


That Which Burns Cold

by UnapologeticallyAuthor



Series: That Which Burns Cold [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Post-Volume 2 (RWBY), Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2018-04-05 01:50:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 28,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4161045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnapologeticallyAuthor/pseuds/UnapologeticallyAuthor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This takes place one year after volume two, Ruby and Weiss have gotten closer, as have Blake and Yang. This story will at first explore how I think Freezerburn and Ladybug would play out. Then an original plot will occur. This is my first try at these pairings so please, any feedback to make it better would make me happy. Thank you :></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hi this is something a little bit different, that I’ve wanted to do for a while. This is going to maybe come to fruition based on what you guys think. I’m a Whiterose Bumblebee writer primarily, but I’m willing to give this a try. Enjoy and please give me some feedback on this as it’s my first story of the sort. Anything that I can use to make this better will be greatly appreciated. 
> 
> Also please check out other things written by me if Freezerburn + Ladybug aren’t your thing.
> 
> Thank you.

Weiss

With only tables and chairs lining the walls, the ballroom is dressed with the bare minimums, but by the end of the week, it will be completely prepared for this year's dance. Presently, Yang and I work on different areas as our expertise is obviously different. Ruby decided to tag along, saying that she wanted to be here in order to quell any decorative arguments that could possibly arise.

After our performance last year, preparing and executing the school’s dance without a problem, Professor Ozpin decided that it would be best to allow Yang and I to set up this year’s dance as well. 

We both accepted without hesitation, of course, although after our ordeals last year, I would have hoped that she of all people would be easier to deal with.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Weiss! I thought we had this conversation last year. No doilies!” Yang yells, challenging me with defiance blazing in her violet eyes. 

I meet her gaze, standing my ground and fold my arms, “We did, and if I still can’t have doilies, then you can’t have your smoke machine. Humph.” I turn away from her, walking towards my partner.

But, if there’s anything that was born from our experiences last year concerning my relationship to Yang, it was that I became much closer to Ruby. To be completely honest, she's without a doubt become my best friend. And though I confess that our relationship may have started off a little shakily, there’s nothing that I wouldn’t tell her now and I know that the reverse is true as well.

I walk over to the small circular table where Ruby sits, her left hand busy, drawing furiously in the small notebook that Yang and I, but mostly I, are using to keep the logistics of the dance organized. Sighing, I sit down beside her and cross my legs. “Ruby, what are you doing? If you needed something to draw on, you could’ve just asked,” I say, gently pulling the book away from her. 

She offers no resistance as I take it, turning it so that the image that she was drawing is right side up. While she really has no discernible talent in drawing, the message and emotion that she was trying to convey is clear. Stick figures of both Blake and Ruby stand by side - at least I think they do - and hold hands with smiles on their faces. Surrounding them is a large heart that for some reason also has a smile on it.

The poor girl is head over heels and can barely keep it a secret. Then again, unless you knew her, deciphering this mess would be decidedly difficult.

I sigh again; closing the book and take the younger girl's hands in my own. “Ruby, remind me again if you will. How long have you been enamored with Blake?”

“Enamored? Like the teeth?” She responds looking at me cluelessly.

“No, that’s enamel, Ruby. I mean how long have you liked her?”

Ruby looks down and I can see a slight blush developing in her cheeks, I of course know the answer to this question, but I may finally be able to convince her to take action. As dependable as she is on the battlefield, she’s absolutely useless in this kind of situation.

“I’ve liked her ever since our first day at Beacon. I may not have realized it at the time, but the way that she looked at me when I told her about my reason for wanting to be a huntress, the way that she didn’t praise the idea and tell me to shoot for the stars like everyone else, the way that she treated me like an equal . . .” she trails off, smiling at me, and withdraws her hands. "Sorry," she adds bashfully, "You're probably sick of hearing this."

I smile at her naiveté; she's still young and barely understands why romance is perceived in the way that it is.

"On the contrary, Ruby, I doubt that I could get tired of hearing about this. School life, aside from the constant training, is surprisingly dull," I explain with a wave of my hand.

"Maybe that's because you never do anything other than study, Weiss," She remarks snidely. 

That response shows how comfortable the younger girl has gotten around me over our time together. A year ago, that might have made me storm out of the room, but our situation is completely different now, and admittedly, I enjoy our banter.

"Well maybe that's because there's nothing to do outside of the dorm," I counter, matching her tone.

Exactly at that moment Yang walks into the conversation with a smirk on her face, and leans against our table. "There's nothing to do outside the dorm? How come I didn't get that notice when we started school?" She asks mockingly, drawing an immediate scowl from me.

"Sorry, Yang, you were probably busy with your catch of the week," I say derisively. Hearing a muffled snicker, I sneak a sideways glance at Ruby and share her smile.

"Ouch, that one stung, Ice Queen," she replies, holding her hand to her chest in mock pain.

"I'm sure that it did. Now what was it that you wanted?" I ask, shooting Ruby a look that says 'we'll continue our conversation later'.

"Weiss, Yang, I'm going to head back to the room, there's some work that I need to finish before class tomorrow," Ruby says, nodding at us before leaving with a swish of her cape. 

As she leaves, I get an idea, but I wouldn't be able to carry it out alone. Yang might be helpful, although manipulating her night require some leverage.

"Weiss, one more time. Can I please have a smoke machine?" She gets down on her knees and clasps her hands together essentially begging.

Normally, I would be adamant about this, but I can see how I can use this to my strategic advantage. For some reason, she really wants this smoke machine. If I give into her, I can force her to help me with this plan.

"Ok, Yang. You can have your smoke machine," I cede.

"Really?" She asks incredulously. 

Then she does something that I didn't expect, picking me up as though I were made of Styrofoam and twirling me around. Finally, when she puts me down, it takes me a moment to regain my footing and my breath, "Yang . . . Never do that again," I command, although its weight is probably somewhat dampened by my breathlessness.

"Sorry," she says, looking pleased with herself, but frowning immediately afterwards. "Wait a minute, what do you want from me?" 

A smile ghosts across my face for a fraction of a second; I've got her exactly where I want her.

"I'm afraid that I don't know what you mean, I don't want anything at all."


	2. The Start of Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Ruby leaves Weiss and Yang, she returns to the dorm to find . . . what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi everyone, I will be updating this story every Thursday. What I need from you guys are some reviews so that I can fix what I need to and make this story the best that it can be. Thanks so much for your support I wouldn't be doing this without you.

A/N: Hi everyone, I will be updating this story every Thursday. What I need from you guys are some reviews so that I can fix what I need to and make this story the best that it can be. Thanks so much for your support I wouldn’t be doing this without you.

Blake 

I bring the blanket closer to my shoulders to fend off the cool, but not cold air of early spring. On any normal Monday night, the room would be filled with a conglomerate of Yang, Weiss, and Ruby's voices as the three of them flit about their evening activities. Fortunately for me, Weiss and Yang have been busy over the past couple of weeks in preparation for this year's dance. Their lack of presence giving me a den of sweet silence, letting me relax, but most importantly allowing me to read a few of the serials that have been piling up on my bookshelf.

Taking a small, tentative sip of my favorite herbal tea, I flip open the cover of a new adventure serial - my companion for the evening. From what I've garnered from the cover and blurb, this book's plot will revolve around a man who woke up one morning to somehow find himself a creature of Grimm. The catch being that the only time he's human is during the night. It may be a little bit silly, but there's romance involved and I'm admittedly hopeless when it comes to that sort of thing.

The book starts off in a familiar location: the main city of Vale where the main character lives a seemingly normal life. To my surprise, there’s no build up and the plot immediately sets in, starting with the main character’s transformation into a Beowolf in the first chapter. It's gripping actually, engaging even to not know why or how something has come to be.

Suddenly, a sharp rapping noise startles me, making me jump. "Hey, Blake. Can you open the door?" A familiar voice calls out.

Well so much for my quiet time.

I Swing my legs over the bed and walk to the door. Standing just outside is team RWBY’s youngest member, and our leader, Ruby Rose.

Her eyes dart around and fall upon the blanket around my shoulders and the book in my hand. “Sorry, Blake. Did I bother you?” She asks innocently, a disappointed furrow forming in her brow.

“No, not at all, Ruby. I’m just reading,” I explain, holding up the book to make a point.

She nods, not at all convinced and looks at me like she’s afraid before running off into the bathroom. I wonder what that was about. The truth is that she really couldn’t annoy me if she wanted to. I’ve grown to care for her over the last year, and it might just be due to her sister’s influence. One thing that yang has ingrained into me was to keep an eye on Ruby all the time. She might be able to handle herself in a fight, but it often doesn’t hurt to have someone guarding your back. Still, the younger girl is like a sister to me at this point. She - and her sister - both accepted me for who I truly am completely and willingly.

Soon afterwards, she walks into the bathroom. When she comes out, she’s completely changed and in her pajamas and walks towards her bed with a bundle of red and black clothing in her hands. The sight of her brings a smile to my face and I decide to make some conversation; my one problem with books is that they can’t speak back.

“Hey, Ruby,” I begin, pretzel folding my legs and calling her over to my bed. She looks confused and amusingly similar to an animal caught in the headlights. “I’ve been alone for a few hours and want to have someone to talk to.”

After a few seconds she processes my request, dropping her scroll and headphones on her bed before walking over with an armful of textbooks. “You don’t mind if I put these here, do you?” She asks, “I need to get some readings done for class tomorrow. Yang and Weiss might be getting a free pass for the next week and a half, but I don’t.”

She looks a little bit glum having said that and flips open the first textbook - Dr. Oobleck’s for his History of Remnant class - and begins to read from a highlighted section.

“Uh, Ruby, how much is some?” I ask, curiously. The three textbooks stacked up by my feet almost tell me what I need to know.

“Like, four or five . . . teen readings,” she mutters, the volume of her voice dipping between ‘five’ and ‘readings’. My Faunus hearing picks it up and I laugh.

“Ruby, you know that there’s no number ‘fiveteen’,” I reply. It might just be a trick of the light, but her silver eyes gleam as she looks up at me with a fond, but shy smile on her own face.

“How did you end up with ‘fiveteen’ readings anyway? Last I checked there were only three posted to the school intranet when we got back from class.”

She averts her gaze again, pressing her two index fingers together nervously before speaking again. “I . . . missed a few. But in my defense, there was a new X-Ray and Vav comic that just came out and I needed to finish it.”

I can’t help but laugh again; her attitude is so genuinely innocent that I sometimes forget that she’s our leader. This is one of those times. “I understand,” I reply, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Sometimes, when a new serial comes out, I spend a few days poring over it too, and barely get my work done.”

She looks at my hand like it’s infected with a plague or something and I remove it quickly, reading the discomfort in her body language. I make a mental note, telling myself not to be careful with physical contact with Ruby. Strange, I don’t remember her behavior being like this last year.

“Sorry,” I apologize, opening my book again. “I’ll, let you get back to work.”

“I’ll be done in a little bit, I promise,” she says with certainty, giving me an awkward nod.

Trying not to think about whatever that was, I thumb through the pages of the serial in my hand. Based on the length of the book and how many pages are left, it should take me about half an hour to finish this.

Like all serials, this one ends on a cliffhanger. The main character is faced with a choice: to flee the city into the world outside the kingdom or to stay inside and risk hurting the people that he loves. Personally, I think that he's being overdramatic. I lived outside the kingdoms for a large portion of my life and it really wasn't as bad as he makes it out to be.

A slam from books hitting the floor cuts through my thoughts. "I'm finally done," Ruby announces, standing up and stretching with a loud yawn. She then flops back onto my bed like a stone, taking up most of the room.

"So am I," I reply, patting the book in my lap. I look down at my scroll and read the time - nine thirty. "It's pretty early still, do you have any plans?"

She combs over the room, trying to find an answer when her stomach rumbles. "Actually, I could go for a snack," she says, shrugging apologetically.

"Cafeteria it is then."

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The cafeteria is mostly empty, being as it's nearly ten pm. All the food areas were closed aside from the desert bar. I suppose that's fortunate though. After the weird awkwardness in the room, Ruby and I - but mostly Ruby - could use something sweet.

"Sho, Blake," Ruby says, chewing another huge mouthful of chocolate cake and chasing it with a swallow of strawberry milkshake, which she made. I'm actually curious as to how she could talk with her mouth so full.

"Yes, Ruby?" I respond, taking a sip of the earl grey tea that I got from the kitchen. Unlike Ruby, I took a more manageable portion of cake.

"What was that book you were reading?” She asks, shoveling another portion of dessert into her mouth.

"It was the first part of a new series that I found. I don't think I'm going to follow it though," I explain.

She cocks her head like that hellhound of hers and sips from her milkshake. "Why not?"

"It just didn't really capture me, but I couldn't leave it unfinished."

That's not exactly true; the book was good up until its ending. Whoever the author is, he or she trivialized the problems that our society faces constantly.

"Oh that sucks," Ruby frowns.

Her flurry of questions makes me wonder one thing, “Why do you ask?”

“I told you that Yang used to read to me a lot when I was little,” she begins, finishing off the last of her cake with audible smacking of her lips.

I nod in response, drinking some tea to fill the silence. I think that I know where she’s going with this.

“Well I was wondering if you had any books that I could read like that.”

I reach back into my memory to the first night at Beacon. Ruby told me about the ideal almost fairy tale world of her stories and how the heroes saved the day. What she wants is an action/adventure, and while she didn’t ask for romance, that type of subplot always makes a story more interesting.

“I think that you would like The Tale of the Inquisition - it’s a serial by the huntsman, Varric Tethras.”

“Do you know where I could get a copy of the first volume?” she asks, leaning forward in her seat. She’s clearly excited about the book; it would definitely be more productive for her to be reading than playing games on her scroll.

“Yes, I have one in the room,” I reply, eliciting a sparkle in her eyes.

“Could I borrow it?” If Ruby were a dog she’d be wagging it right now and, as much as I hate dogs, it’s endearing to see her like this.

“Of course you can. Come on, let’s get back and get you started on it,” I suggest.

We walk back to the dorm room quickly - or rather I walk. Ruby skips, talking at a breakneck pace about her Uncle Qrow and how he would bring her books when he came back from hunts in the other kingdoms. Maybe she shouldn’t have had all of that sugar so late. Nevertheless, I listen to her attentively until we reach our room.

Entering the room, she bolts to my bookshelf. I have to stifle a laugh, watching her as she combs the titles with her index finger until she finds the book. That’s when I realize something.

That book wasn’t my companion tonight, Ruby was.


	3. Continued Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations are still underway for the upcoming dance and Ruby's freaking out about something that happened the night before. What is Yang to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys, I’m back again. Let me know what you think of this chapter. Obviously, something happens between the two chapters and hopefully it’ll give you a laugh. Thanks for reading!

Yang

Why is this wire here and how did I end up tangled up in it? Why does this even need so many tubes? Ugh, this is a lot of work. But then again, it was my idea to have the smoke machine. Still, I bet Ruby will help me if I ask.

“Hey, Rubes! Ice Queen! Do you guys mind helping me with this?” I yell across the ballroom, getting on my hands and knees to try and keep the tubes from coiling around each other.

Neither of them answers me, but I can hear their voices. Putting the tubes down, I get up and look over my shoulder with a more than annoyed look on my face. Ruby and Weiss sit at a table across the room, talking in hushed whispers. They seem to be completely oblivious to everything around them.

“Gals? Watcha talking about? Oh! Is it about last night? Pretty awkward, huh?” I ask, kicking a chair in their direction where it screeches to a stop, its back lightly tapping against the edge of their table. I sit down backwards in the chair, leaning forward until my chin touches the table.

Ruby looks up at me with a massive blush on her face, her silver, puppy dog eyes pleading with me, “Yang, don’t talk about it. Please,” she begs, hiding her incredibly flushed face in her arms. Weiss offers her a comforting pat on the back, smiling at me knowingly. It seems like she’s trying to stifle a laugh by biting her lower lip.

That does it for me and I can’t help but burst into laughter. It must be infectious because pretty soon, Weiss joins me and, to my surprise, she’s the one that takes the longest to recover. That in and of itself is amusing; her laugh, clear and almost sing-songy, is surprisingly sweet to listen to.

“That’s not cool, guys,” Ruby pouts, crossing her arms and not meeting either of our eyes. Embarrassment is obvious in every motion she makes.

“Sorry, Ruby. It’s just . . . well . . . How did you fall asleep in Blake’s bed?” Weiss asks, still trying her hardest not to laugh. Even if Ruby doesn’t appreciate the support that she’s giving, I do. I honestly thought that being advanced two years would be too much for Ruby to handle, but Blake and Weiss have been almost like family to her.

“Ugh,” Ruby responds simply, slamming onto the table. She gets a little bit overdramatic sometimes if you ask me. “It wasn’t my fault!” she begins, throwing her hands up. “Blake lent me a book and I was reading it with her. I mean, she wasn’t reading it, I was reading it and she was next to me, reading a different book obviously -”

“Get to the point, Rubes,” I say, motioning for her to hurry up.

“Sorry, Long story short, I didn’t know I was falling asleep and the next thing you know, I was laying on her shoulder.”

Pretty weird that Blake didn’t move her off. Maybe it was empathy or something; Blake is a cat Faunus after all and knows what it’s like to be comfortable.

“She could’ve said something,” Ruby mumbles, blushing even more furiously than she was earlier.

"Regardless, this is progress, isn't it?" Weiss asks, clapping her hands together with an enthusiastic grin on her face. What's progress? Is there something I'm missing?

"Progress?" I ask, scratching my head.

"Weiss!" Ruby exclaims, throwing herself across the table to silence the smaller girl.

I sit upright, watching the scene before me. Wait, is Ruby keeping something from me - me her own dear sister? No, she wouldn't do that.

"What's going on?" I ask, folding my arms. They both stop what they're doing instantly, Ruby's hands hover above Weiss' neck and Weiss has her hands pushed against Ruby's chest, keeping her at bay. They both look at me with faces red with embarrassment - the whole picture looks like something out of a cartoon.

Both Ruby and Weiss get to their feet and have a quick exchange with their eyes alone. I don't like being left out of the loop and I can feel my eyes changing color. Weiss must feel it too because she puts her hands up defensively, stabbing Ruby with her eyes. "She was going to find out anyway; at least this way you could tell her," Weiss explains, leaning in placing her hands on her narrow waist.

"Tell me what?" My question comes out a little bit more pointedly than I intended it to and I stand up, towering over both of them.

Ruby sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose and slouches for a moment before looking up at me nervously. "It's Blake," she says, poking her two index fingers together.

"I got that much, Ruby. What about her?" I ask, my patience running a little bit thin. Ruby has always had this bad habit of talking too much when she's sad, embarrassed, nervous, happy - actually that's just her normal personality.

"For Remnant's sake!" Weiss explodes, giving Ruby an annoyed frown. "Your little sister is head over heels for your partner."

I stick my pinky in my ear and twirl it around. Did I hear that right? “Ruby, you’re only fifteen. You can’t date her,” I state matter of factly.

“What? Why Not? I’m sixteen and that’s not fair, Dad never stopped you,” she whines, staring at Weiss accusingly.

It’s true, Dad never stopped me from dating anyone that I wanted, but that’s because he was always too busy to stop me. Of course, I’m here to keep an eye on Ruby so this is a different case.

“That’s beside the point. Weiss don’t tell me you were for this?”

She looks at me like I just offended her, and scoffs, “Of course I am. But a big brute like you wouldn’t understand I suppose. You’ve never held down a partner for more than a month,” she spits, her voice dripping with venom.

“Ouch, Ice Queen. And a month is a long time,” I counter, turning to the smoke machine across the room. “Forget about it. Come help me with this stupid machine.”

“Uh, actually I have some work that I need to finish so I’ll see you two later,” Ruby replies, using her semblance to sprint out of the room before either Weiss or I can protest.

And then there were two, I think to myself sarcastically.

Weiss looks like she wants to leave too, but I grab her collar and drag her to the machine. “Oh no, you’re not getting out of this one. Both of us are supposed to be working on this,” I remind her.

“Unhand me!” She commands, swatting at my wrist. I don’t let go and eventually she makes a sound of exasperation and stops struggling. “Fine, what do you need me to do?”

In response, I throw a length of tubing at her. She bobbles a couple of times before getting a hold of it. “I need you to keep that uncoiled while I go find some masking tape.”

She puts it down on the ground and I’m about to yell at her when she interrupts me, “Relax, Yang. I know where we can find some. Follow me.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No less than five minutes later, the two of us are walking down a cold, unlit hallway underneath the ballroom that supposedly leads to a maintenance room. Weiss leads the way, and I have no idea how she can see. Granted, the only way to go is straight, but there might be something on the floor that we can’t see.

The thought must have jinxed me because as soon as it comes into my head, I trip and fall hard. The sound of the impact makes Weiss stop and turn around. Seeing me on the floor, she sighs and walks to me, the sound of her pumps hitting the floor echo throughout the hall. “Here, take my hand,” she says wearily.

“Thanks,” I reply, using her as support to pull myself up.

We walk quietly for a little bit longer, but I can’t stand the silence, “Hey, you don’t actually support Ruby’s crush, do you?”

“Of course I do. Why shouldn’t your sister be able to take happiness where she finds it, Yang? And you know Blake, she would never hurt Ruby.”

She has a point and I have no argument for it and instead grunt and blow air out of my nose. There’s no way I’m wrong though, Ruby’s my baby sister and Dad made sure that I would be able to protect her. But maybe I have trouble telling what a threat is. Ugh.

“Well what do you think I should do? I’m supposed to take care of her.”

“There are other ways to do that. If you don’t want to alienate her, then you need to support her - here’s the maintenance closet,” Weiss points out, turning left and pushing the door that’s there. It turns on its hinges as she walks through and on the backswing, hits me and knocks me over. Again.

“I’m so sorry!” Weiss yells, placing her hand over her mouth. “I should’ve held the door, I-”

I get to my feet and put my hand up to stop her from talking, “It’s no big deal, Weiss. But maybe you’re right about Ruby. None of us are kids anymore and I shouldn’t treat her like one. Still, she’s hopeless when it comes to this sort of thing so she might need a little bit of help,” I explain, conceding my failing argument to her.

It’s still really dark down here, but after saying that, I swear that she smiles. Just what am I getting myself into?


	4. Day One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week away from the dance! Team RWBY or at least team WY kicks it into overdrive with a plan for Ruby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the delay and short chapter. I'm setting up for stuff obviously, but I also need to take a short break from this to redouble and work on some personal projects. I'll be back in two weeks' time, but until then I would appreciate feedback to know what I can do better. Thanks :)

Ruby

Of all the stupidest things that Yang has ever said to me, I can’t believe that she got Weiss to side with her for once. I don’t know what they expect is going to happen, yes I’ve known Blake for a year and yes, because of school we spend a lot of time together, but I can’t imagine that asking her to the dance would be a good idea. Especially because it’s just about a week away.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re joking right?” I ask, palming my face with my left hand.

“No, I’m serious. This is a great idea Ruby, I don’t know how you don’t see it,” Weiss pushes, pointing at an open page in her binder which is already bursting at the seams. I hope for their sake that that isn’t all part of their ‘plan’.

"She must not understand, Weiss - Oh! I know! Turn to the infographic!" My absolutely wonderful older sister says, pawing at Weiss' binder.

"Hey! Wait a minute! Hands off!" Weiss responds, slapping at Yang's grabbing hands. "Give me one second."

She shoots my sister a look of disdain before picking up one of the tabs in the binder and flipping it open. When she presents it to me I just don't know what to say. I don't even know what that's supposed to be.

"Well don't just stand there, Yang. Explain it," Weiss commands, crossing her arms authoritatively.

"Right uh . . . Ruby, this over here's Blake." Her hand moves to the upper left corner of the page where a vaguely humanoid figure with kitty ears is drawn. "Now, she gets back from her nightly trip to the library at around nine." She points to what I guess is supposed to be a library, but it honestly looks more like a pile of rectangles. "On her way back I'll go after her and take a book. That's where you'll come in to save it and return it to your soon to be girlfriend. She'll be so grateful that she'll have to take you to the dance."

Ugh.

It's a good thing that I'm the one who makes the battle strategies for the team because as far as plans go, that was awful.

"In what universe would that work?" I ask, throwing my hands into the air.

"Conversely, you could just tell her the truth and ask her to the dance," Weiss offers, flipping her left hand palm upwards as if showing me the choice.

"No! You don't get it. What if she doesn't like girls?" That's something I've been slightly afraid of. Yang knows what it's like for someone to have a crush on you, but not have any feelings for them. I also wouldn't want to ruin our friendship.

"Ruby, Blake doesn't have to like girls, she just needs to like you. Isn't that right, Weiss?" Yang asks, nudging Weiss in the shoulder hard enough with her elbow to make the smaller girl stumble a little.

"Yang!" She yells before quickly regaining her composure. "Excuse me. Your sister has a point, Ruby. What do you think is going to happen if you do nothing?"

"Well, in the stories everything sorta works out in the end," I reply, shrugging my shoulders apologetically.

"Ruby, that's only true if you're a princess and anyway, life's not a fairy tale." Yang walks over to me and throws her arm across my shoulder. "If you really want this, you need to take action."

"But, it's not that simple. I can't just make it happen." I slump at the table and it gets quiet for a little bit. "Shouldn't you guys be working or something?"

They take the hint and walk away, mumbling to each other. Weiss' binder lies untouched on the table and a tab sticks out labeled 'Plan G'. That in and of itself is worrying. I don't want to know what any of those other plans are, but, for some reason I can't help myself from flipping to this one. And it might be crazy, but after skimming the pages, I think that it might actually work.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I walk upstairs to our dorm room and peek inside. Just like the plan suggested, Blake wasn’t there. She must be on her book run like Weiss and Yang said. 

Anyway, step one time.

Blake’s bookshelf is completely cluttered with a mess of tomes, comics, novels and serials, but there’s one book in particular that I’m looking for. It should be black and red with a generic image of a ninja’s face on the front. The plan calls for me to first find it and then read it to gain knowledge or insight or whatever on Blake’s interests, maybe even talk to her about it. The last thing that Blake and I talked about was books so this shouldn’t be too big a deal.

The only problem that I have is finding the thing. Before I know it, twenty minutes have past and I’m still only halfway through the first row on her shelf. Who knew that it was possible to have so many books in one place?

I’m sure that Blake has some sort of organizing system or something, but I just can’t figure it out. I must have searched for at least thirty minutes total before I finally found the book hidden away in a corner of the shelf. It’s almost like she didn’t want anyone to find it.

Ninjas of Love

I flip to the inside of the cover and read that the book has an M rating. That’s pretty weird, but since I’m almost eighteen, I think it’s fair to say that I’m old enough to read this.

The scene that the book first sets is interesting to say the least. It’s set a long time ago in a different world in a kingdom called Japan where cherry blossoms flow like leaves from the forest of foreverfall. I’m excited right away as the book sets up a war between two rival warlords. Their elite warriors are something called samurai, who are as fearsome in battle as a pack of Beowolves, yet as precise as my baby, Crescent Rose.

Then it starts to get a little bit weird, two fighters called ninja arrive on the scene in secrecy where they covertly take out all of the samurai as though they were nothing. With the room completely clear, they . . . get out of their clothes for some reason.

Oh.

This is erotica. I blush furiously, not because of the sex that’s going on in the pages, but because I had no idea that Blake was into this. I should have figured though; with all the time that she spends with books, there had to have been some pleasure reading involved. I snicker to myself at my accidental pun.

“Ruby?” Blake yells suddenly.

Uh oh.


	5. Day One Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby, Weiss and Yang have an emergency meeting and come up with an interesting plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I'm back and am going to be steadily uploading a new chapter ever two weeks rather than one. That might have been just a bit too ambitious. Anyway, enjoy!

Ruby

"You did what?" Weiss exclaims, bringing her left hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "I told you that we shouldn't have kept that ridiculous plan 'G' in the binder, Yang."

My older sister looks attacked and raises her arms in defense. "I don't know what you're complaining about, Ice Queen. The way I see it, this is a perfect opportunity." She looks at me expectantly, and I blush. "Ruby and Blake are going to have to talk about this sooner or later. Preferably sooner,"

Weiss shakes her head and opens her mouth to say something before stopping and storming out of the ballroom.

I'm glad that Weiss is on my side here. She's such a great partner and friend. It's really weird how close you can be to someone if you try. Then again, maybe it isn't.

Yang frowns, "Ruby, I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere," she commands, turning on her heels and running after my partner.

It's not like I have anywhere to go to. I can't go back to the dorm because Blake's there and I don't want to see her. I mean, I do want to see her. So badly, but ugh, it would be so awkward. How do I get myself into these situations?

Eventually, Weiss and Yang rejoin me with smiles on their faces that worry me. Literally ten seconds later, my worry is confirmed as Yang suddenly picks me up, and throws me across her shoulders. I struggle of course for what it's worth, but she's too strong. Even when we were kids, I could never get her off of me.

"Yang! Put me down!" I protest, slamming my fists feebly against her upper back. It's like hitting a brick wall. "Where are we going?"

"We're going for a walk. You, however, are going to have a talk with Blake," Weiss responds.

"Weiss! I thought you were my friend!" I yell, betrayal lacing my voice.

"Ruby, be quiet. People are trying to sleep. Besides, you made your bed so now you have to sleep in it. You do want to go to the dance with Blake, don't you?" She asks in a hushed tone.

I don't have anything to say to that. Of course I want to go to the dance with her. It's just that every time I do something to try to make that happen, it blows up in my face. Now I know how Jaune felt last year.

I close my eyes, but feel a bumping that tells me that we're going up stairs. A few seconds later, I hear the beeping of a key reader recognizing a scroll before being - Weiss would use the word unceremoniously - thrown to the ground. When I look up, my heart all but jumps into my throat.

Blake stands by her bed, wearing her yukata and some new black fuzzy slippers that Yang got her 'from me'. 

"What's going on?" She says in her calm, soothing voice.

Man I'm hopelessly in love.

"Nothing, Ruby wanted to talk to you. We've got to go figure out the smoke machine. See you tonight," Yang says, blatantly winking at me. Oh that sister of mine is going to get what's coming to her one day.

"I can tell by the way you dragged her into here," Blake retorts, walking towards me and helping me to my feet.

Weiss and Yang disappear as the door closes and I anticipate leaving out the window, but that would probably ruin any chances I have with Blake.

"So, is this about last night?" Blake asks. I can see a faint blush on her cheeks. It's good to see that this is just as embarrassing for her as it is for me. I don't answer and she walks back to her bed and sits on its edge, patting the mattress. "Sit down."

The way she says it isn't a command, and makes me feel more welcome than nervous. I'm still painfully nervous though. Even so, I can work my body well enough to sit down next to her. She brings her legs up, crossing them, and turns her body to face me.

"Blake I'm so sorry I read your book without asking. You know it wasn't really that bad if you get past all the talking about 'cocks', and 'asses'. Unless that's what you read it for," I clamp my hand over my mouth as my cheeks redden. My face cheeks. I can't believe I said that.

To my surprise, Blake covers her mouth and laughs. "Ruby. It's alright. I should have hidden that better. I just hope that doesn't hurt your image of me in any way."

If only she knew. This could be so much easier.

"Of course not, Blake. I don't think that's even possible. You're still my super cool, mysterious awesome teammate," I respond, smiling shyly. 

"Thanks, Ruby," she says, getting up and walking over to her bookshelf. "Oh! Did you want to borrow the next serial of The tale of the Inquisition?"

That's convenient. Besides the constant worrying about Blake, that's been one of the other things on my mind. "You have it? I've been wondering what happens to the inquisitor after he fights that Coryphyfish guy since last week!" I respond enthusiastically, taking the book from Blake.

"I've been meaning to catch up on some reading anyway. You guys caught me just as I finished getting out of the shower."

The thought of Blake in the shower breaks through my thoughts and gets my blood running. Thankfully, it doesn't shut me down completely. "Oh, do you want to read together?"

"You do make a surprisingly good reading partner," Blake says with a smirk. She motions to her bed and sits with her back against the headboard, leaving enough room for me to sit beside her.

We sit together and read for what feels like hours. The serial is great. The way that Tethras says just enough for you to understand what he means by what he doesn't say is incredible. To be completely honest though, I don't get as much reading done as I probably would. I keep sneaking looks at Blake; she's so distracting. It's worse because she's not even doing anything, just staring at a page. Her beautiful amber eyes don't betray her emotions, but I know that underneath the stony front, she's reacting to every word.

It's really weird actually. When I think about Blake, my heart pounds. My pulse quickens. My thoughts become foggy. When I'm with her though, that all goes away. Nothing else matters, but her.

After a while, Blake closes her book and crosses her legs. I can feel her eyes on me and I feel my face flush. Why does she have to have that effect on me?

"How's the issue?" Blake asks, reading over my shoulder.

“It’s really really good. I didn’t really like the Cassandra character during the last one, but she’s starting to grow on me.” I roll over onto my stomach, and stretch, dropping the book onto my head.

She chuckles at that and picks it up, placing it beside me. Her eyes are as warm and welcoming as ever, and my heart skips a beat. “She’s really growing on the inquisitor too, isn’t she?”

I understand what she’s hinting at and shut my hands over my ears. “I can’t hear you! Spoilers turn off my hearing!” I yell.

“I’m not spoiling anything, just making an observation. It looks like they’re getting close, right?” She asks, gently removing my hands from my ears. Her skin is soft, even though she has calluses all over her palms. 

With my luck, Yang and Weiss choose that moment exactly to walk back into the room. “Whoa! What’s happening over here, Blake?” 

She looks up and drops my hands, staying in the same position. It's surprising that she's not startled by that. I would be completely frozen. I am completely frozen.

"We were just reading," Blake replies simply, standing up and stretching. 

It gives me an enticing view of her toned stomach, and I can't help but stare. Yang notices me staring and smiles.

Blake walks into the bathroom, leaving the three of us in the room. I glare at my so called sister and partner angrily.

"See something you like sis?" Yang asks, winking at me.

I swear I could kill her. It was bad when she didn't want me with Blake, but I think this might be worse. I make a noise of disgust and take the book from Blake's bed. Then, climbing into my own, I hide behind the book and smile.

I'm glad that they forced tonight onto me.


	6. Day Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss and Yang are still trying to figure out this smoke machine stuff and the dance is only six days away!!!

Weiss

“Yang, would you stop fooling around with that and just help me move this speaker?” I ask, venom dripping from my voice. I've been trying in vain to move one of the four massive, matte, black stereos to its assigned place in the corner of the room for close to ten minutes. Yang and I are trying to go for a different mood this year. Instead of having the music blasting out from the center of the room, we want it to waft out from the corners. The desired effect is to have the music meet in the middle of the room where the dance floor is situated.

She looks up from her wires and cables, the look on her face screaming annoyance. “Hey, Blake? Ice queen isn’t going to help me out here. Do you think you could?”

“Yang, I’ve been watching you twist and pull those things every which way for the past hour. Please help Weiss,” Blake replies, giving me a meaningful look. 

Ever since our fiasco with the White Fang, she’s confided many things in me. What started out as a shaky relationship rife with dispute has become something - well - useful in this situation with Ruby. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn’t exploit a teammate for anything; they’re practically family. But what can I say? I’m a hopeless romantic and it would be a fairy tale story if Ruby and Blake got together.

With an excessive amount of grumbling and maybe even some swearing, Yang walks towards me and wordlessly lifts up a speaker, tossing it over her shoulder like it weighed nothing. 

"Weiss, you promised that I could have a smoke machine," she says, an accusing tone clear in her voice. I didn't actually promise that she could have it, but I have integrity; I'll help her with it after we get all the important parts out of the way.

"I know," I lie, walking with her to the corner of the room adjacent to the terrace overlooking the city of Vale. "I'll help you with it after we get these speakers in place."

She nods, dropping the speaker in its corner with a deafening 'thud'. These things are surprisingly resilient, being able to function even with the rough way that Yang handles them. As Yang goes to repeat the process with the other three speakers, I take the time to have a little talk with Blake.

"Hey, you've been spending a lot of time with Ruby lately," I observe innocently. Blake looks at me curiously and smiles.

"And you've been spending a lot of time with Yang. It's not unusual, Weiss"

Touché.

"Well, Ruby has been telling me about a series of books that you've been letting her read," I fire back, determined to keep this conversation going. I need to find out what Ruby can do to ensure that she's able to go out with Blake.

"Reading Ruby is better than idle Ruby. At least she's not eating every sweet thing in Beacon."

"I suppose that's true. Unlike her rapscallion of a sister, you're enabling a good habit," I reply. We share a smirk as Yang walks in on the conversation.

"What's with the faces, something funny?" She asks with a lazy smile. Then, she grabs both Blake's hand and my own and drags us to her terribly unorganized pile of tubes, wires and metallic pieces.

"Now that we're done with those stereos, you two are going to help me with this," she says simply, motioning to her mess.

“Alright, what should we do first?” Blake walks over to a pile and squats towards the ground. After inspecting a piece of metal for a short while, she nods in affirmation and hands it to the tall blonde. “You shouldn’t need this.”

Yang bends over beside her and takes the piece, unceremoniously tossing it over the shoulder. Thanks to my years of fencing training, I’m able to avoid being struck by the scrap by taking a half step to the right. Just as I have a thought about how it would be unlikely for her to do that again, she does. But, this time it grazes my shoulder and tears a small rip through my bolero.

“Hey! Watch it! This wasn’t cheap, Yang!” I yell, this time catching a small, round, metal projectile out of the air and throwing it as hard as I can back at her.

Apparently, I don’t throw very hard though as the small ball bounces off of her hair. The worst part about it is that I realize the severity of what I’ve done only after the fact. As expected, Yang’s temper overtook her almost immediately. Standing up slowly, her fists clenched, she pierces me with her blood red gaze.

Her weapon, Ember Celica flashes to the ready and in response, I draw my Myrtenaster. If she wants a fight, she’ll get one.

“Hey you two please don’t fight,” Blake pleads, keeping a smart distance away from us.

Her words never reach us because in this moment there’s nobody else here, just that insufferable brute and I. And for a while, Yang and I dance around each other, neither of us giving ground and neither of us making any advances. It’ an eternity before someone makes a move and I see Blake in my periphery, holding the bridge of her nose. I don’t blame her. This is an entirely childish thing to do, but I just can’t help it. It needs to be done.

Yang rushes forward, putting all of her weight into a right straight punch towards the center of my head. It’s an easy enough strike to parry and I step forward, using her momentum to deflect the strike just to the left of my head. That gives me just enough space to shove her off balance and knock her to the ground with a sharp smack to her left shin.

"Are you done?" I ask, a cruel sneer forming on my lips as I look down at her. Finesse will always beat brute strength.

"Not yet!" She yells, leaping to her feet before loading her weapon with what looks like explosive rounds.

I set my mouth in a hard line, holding my rapier confidently. She won't be able to hit me.

"Take this!" Yang yells, sending a colorful barrage of explosive shells towards me. The light from the shots paint the walls with various shades of orange and red, blinding but not distracting me.

In response, I cycle the dust chamber of Myrtenaster, lining up my freeze dust with the firing mechanism. Then, with barely any effort, I pick the explosive rounds out of the air, activating the dust and shooting beams of cold energy at them.

When the projectiles strike each other, clouds of steam billow outwards, covering the ballroom with thick clouds and obscuring my view. It sticks around for about five minutes and through the steam, I can hear what sounds like fighting.

After the cloud eventually passes, I see Yang laying down on the ground for some reason. My heart suddenly drops into my stomach. Did I hit her? As I run towards her to make sure that I didn't, I'm blindsided and thrown to the ground.

It knocks the wind out of me and when I look to see what I was hit with, I see Blake looking down at me. 

"What was that for?" I ask, letting her help me to my feet.

Shaking her head, she helps Yang up too and brings her towards me. As they approach, I ready Myrtenaster again, but Blake's sharp voice startles me into dropping it.

"Why are you two fighting? Don't you see what you just did?"

"She hit me with a piece of metal!" I yell, stomping my foot.

"Oh please, princess. It just tore your jacket." She scoffs and turns away from me.

"It was expensive!"

"Girls?" Blake asks, interrupting our argument.

"What?" Yang and I ask at the same time, although our tones are different. Mine's more exasperated while her's is more indifferent.

"You realize that you made steam, right? You don't actually need that smoke contraption."

Her thought shuts both of us up. I didn't think of that. Not using the machine could save the both of us a lot of hassle. I know that Yang ironically won't be the bigger person in this situation so I take it upon myself.

"Yang, I'm sorry for attacking you," I say with much difficulty. I hate apologizing for things that aren't my fault.

Yang mumbles her reply, and I'm satisfied with that, but Blake isn't. She elbows Yang in the arm, staring at her expectantly.

"Ugh. Fine. I'm sorry for being so careless," she repeats, scratching her head.

"I accept your apology. And we can start figuring out the most effective way to produce steam tomorrow," I promise. I don't actually promise it again, but I mean it. We're getting close to the dance and I still need to find a dress.

Maybe I'll take Ruby out tomorrow.


	7. Day Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Weiss buy a dress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, I missed an upload day, but I think I'm going to try something: I'll upload whenever I'm done with a chapter, but it will be within two weeks all the time, I get antsy when I'm sitting on writing so yeah. Anyway, enjoy!

Ruby

“Weiss!” I whine, not really resisting, “Why do I have to get a dress? Can’t I just wear my combat skirt?”

She looks at me like I’m crazy and doesn’t answer, walking out the door. I guess she expects me to follow. Blake and Yang went out earlier today to get some supplies or something for the dance. I figured that with a only four days left, they would have everything set already, but leave it to my older sister to wait until the last minute.

It's nice today, but not too nice. I mean, the sun's out and the floors reflecting the warmth that's beating down, but it's too windy. We were literally out of the school for five minutes before Weiss put her hair up completely. It's a nice look on her considering the fact that she always wears it in that braid, but she seemed really reluctant to do it. Something about her sister or something.

We're walking through Vale when I have a sudden realization. "Weiss, how am I going to get a dress? All the money that I had went towards modifications for Crescent Rose and ammo."

"Ruby? Did you forget who you were talking to? Besides, I couldn't have my partner showing up to a dance without an appropriate outfit," she explains, taking my hand and pulling me towards Vale's commercial district.

"Weiss, I thought you didn't like using your family's money," I reply.

It's very lively here. People are moving like time is running out, and I recognize other students from Beacon that are spending their free time here like us.

"I don't and I wouldn't want to if you were just anyone, but you're my best friend. Don't you want to look good for Blake?"

She stops and turns to me, a very recognizable look of triumph on her face. She knows that she hit a weak point.

"I haven't even asked her yet, isn't this a little bit preemptive?" My argument is a little bit weak, and she knows it. Like a fencer, she moves in for a finishing strike.

"But if you do end up going with her, wouldn't it be good to already have a dress?"

I open my mouth to respond, but immediately close it. There's nothing more to say. I nod my head in defeat and motion for her to lead on. Soon, we arrive at an excessively snobby, expensive and . . . froofy looking place. I hope that Weiss knows what she's doing.

"Good day, Miss Schnee," a heavily tattooed bouncer with a handlebar mustache says, opening the door for her.

"Geoff,” she replies, nodding politely.

Once we’re inside the store, I immediately regret coming in. From some hidden speaker, the fancy classical music that my Uncle Qrow sometimes listens to faintly plays. Not only that, but I feel like just looking at half of these dresses is going to cost me a fortune - a fortune that I don’t have.

“Weiss, are you sure that I’m allowed to be in here?”

“Oh, Ruby, just get over here and try on this dress,” she commands, holding out a very simple black dress with a slit cut into its right side. I don’t think I would have given that a thought last year, but I’m more open.

Taking the dress from her, I walk into the relatively small, single mirrored dressing room and slide out of my combat skirt. Years of wearing this has made it more like a second skin than clothing, so I feel naked without it. Although that might just be because I actually am naked. I throw the dress on over my head and zip it up the back, staring at myself in the mirror.

The slit exposing a little bit more leg than I want to does make me look older. But is that what I want? More importantly, is that what Blake wants? Growing up, Yang always told me not to care what other people thought of me, but I really want Blake to like me. Knowing her though, the dress really won’t make a difference. It’s up to me and that is where my problem is, I can’t strategize like I do when I’m on the battlefield; it’s like talking to her is a whole new battlefield. Sure my heart rate calms down and I feel more focused, but I’m focused on her and not myself.

Why does this have to be so hard?

“Ruby, you’ve been in there for quite a long time, are you alright?” Weiss cuts into my thoughts, speaking in a tone that I recognize. It’s how my older sister talks when she’s trying to tiptoe around my emotions.

“Sorry, I got lost in thought. You can come in,” I call, looking over myself one more time. I honestly have no idea what I should be looking for in a dress. Last year I just happened to have a dress that I had for Yang’s graduation ceremony from Signal, but apparently I can’t wear the same dress two years in a row. Who would even notice?

Weiss enters the dressing room and looks me over, her face stoic and unmoving. I can’t tell what she’s thinking and start shifting in my boots a little bit when she shakes her head, “No, take that off. Let me find you something else.”

I don’t argue, the dress really isn’t my style.

When she comes back, she has a deep red dress that’s cut to almost skirt length. Again, I try it on and come across something that I don’t understand, “Weiss? What’re these black lacy things?”

“Are you decent?” Weiss asks, standing outside the dressing room. Without waiting for a reply, she walks in, nodding in satisfaction at my outfit. “Do you mind?”

I shake my head offering myself to her fashion expertise. As in combat, I know that I can trust Weiss here. She motions for me to sit down on the room’s bench and lifts the bottom of the dress up, exposing the lacy things.

“These are called garters. They’re used to hold up leggings, and I know that you’re partial towards wearing them so I chose these," she holds up a pair of very sleek leggings with lace near the top. Noting my hesitation, she thrusts the fabric into my arms, "they're satin so they could have . . . other uses if you need them."

It takes me a moment to realize what she’s trying to say. When I figure it out, I turn probably as red as my cape, “Weiss! What? I wouldn’t - I mean I’ve never thought,” I stammer, fighting to get the words out, “not that I wouldn’t consider it. Ugh, Weiss!”

The faintest smile dances across her lips and I frown, massaging my cheeks to get them back to their normal color. Remembering what she said before about being prepared and considering the fact that I won’t be paying for any of this, I turn back to her, “Thanks, Weiss. These are great.”

“I knew that you would appreciate that,” she responds, an aura of happiness glowing off of her.

Oh man, I think she’s more excited for this than I am. Wait, that’s impossible. My excitement is just mixed with a lot of nervousness. I really hope that I can get her to go with me.

“I think that’s everything you’ll need. Of course shoes will be important, but you can just borrow a pair of mine,” Weiss says, walking back out of the dressing room. “Change back into your skirt and meet me by the register.

It doesn’t take me long, and my cheeks are still kind of red when I reach the front desk. Either Weiss doesn’t notice it or, like a good friend would, she pretends not to, “Ruby, this is Geoff. He and his family are some of the most celebrated tailors in all of vale.”

“All of the whole world, you mean,” Geoff responds, a teasing smile on his face.

“Yes of course,” Weiss smiles, “and Geoff, this is Ruby Rose, my partner from Beacon, the girl I was telling you about.”

“Ah, the little lovebird?”

“Weiss! What did you tell him?” I ask, tugging at her sleeve with my free hand.

"The truth. I didn't - calm down. Ruby!" She almost yells, taking the clothes from me and handing them to Geoff.

“Ruby, from what Weiss told me, you really care about this girl, Blake, right?” Geoff asks as he rings up our purchase.

I’m distracted by the amount of zeroes in the amount for a second. I didn’t know that anything got this expensive, “I really do, but I don’t want to mess it up. I don’t know if I could bear it.”

“Ruby, life is full of uncertainties. Take it from me, I’m a forty year old man raising eight kids, and I also own a very lucrative clothing store. Did I expect this twenty years ago? No not at all. The point is that you’re going to have to go for something if you really want it. Believe me when I say that with your personality and a dress like this, she won’t be able to resist.”

Geoff’s point makes a lot of sense, but I really don’t feel like Blake is the type of girl who would be impressed by a really showy display. It’s just not her. However, he is right that I need to put myself out there for her. If she cares about me as much as I care about her, then I don’t have anything to worry about.

“Thanks. But knowing Weiss, I’ll probably end up accidentally proposing to Blake or something by the end of the week,” I reply, smiling at my own joke.

Geoff hands Weiss and I our bag and the two of us leave the store. The interaction that we had didn’t exactly do much to put me at ease. I think I might be more anxious now that I have a dress. Still, I wonder what Blake is doing right now.


	8. Day Three Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The climax to the first part of this story is in sight, Yang knows that too and gets a little careless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, this one is a bit different, but I hope you enjoy. Anyway, RWBY premieres tomorrow!!!!

Yang

“Remember, do not under any circumstances let Blake know how Ruby feels. This needs to be calculated and exact for it to work,” Weiss said to me earlier today. Obviously I told her that I knew what I was doing, although I’m not sure that she does. To her, people are kind of like those Atlesian machines, but they’re not something that can be controlled. I know I can’t be.

Blake and I walk down the hallways towards our dorm, coming back from lunch. With just one class, today was a good day to relax. It helps that Weiss and I have pretty much finished all of our preparations for the dance. All that's left is the dance itself, and since Weiss is helping Ruby with her dress, I figured that I should help Ruby in a different way.

"Hey, Blake, any plans for the dance?" I ask as we close the door behind us.

"No, not right now. To be honest, I've never really been one for romance," she replies, shrugging her shoulders to lower her knapsack onto the floor.

I know that she's lying, and call her out on it, "not into romance? Then what's with all of those books that you read? I know that at least some of them are romance."

"Yang, you know what I mean. Since Sun . . ." She trails off and sighs.

"You don't need to go with someone romantically. Dances can be friendly and you do have some great friends, Blake," I interrupt her, so as to not have any lull in the conversation. If I'm going to try to give her an idea, it needs to be subtle. Weiss says that I'm great at being subtle.

"Where are you going with this?" She asks, narrowing her eyes.

"Nowhere, I just thought that it would be nice to go with someone."

"Are you asking me to help you get a date? Or did you say yes to more than one person . . . again?" She replies, a sarcastic smile on her face.

“Hey, we’re not talking about me right now, my faunus friend.”

“Then what, Yang?”

Ok, in this moment I may have panicked a little bit, but I don’t think that it could have been helped. I hadn’t said anything about Ruby so far so I can’t be faulted for it, right?

“Why don’t you take Ruby? As a friend of course!” I clarify, wiping the sweat off of my mental brow.

“Yang, I don’t know if you noticed, but your sister isn’t one for dancing.”

“I know, but Blake, you’re one of her only friends. She never goes to anything social unless one of us is there. Weiss and I are going to be moderating; she’ll just be sitting near the punch bowl. Even Jaune’s going with Pyrrha so she won’t even have him to talk to. At least give it some thought,” I plead, getting to my knees.

She looks at me strangely, scratching the top of her head, “What aren’t you telling me, Yang?”

Alright, that was way too forward. As I’m about to try to talk my way out of this, my scroll rings miraculously, bringing up Weiss’ face. Thank Remnant for the ice queen.

“Yeah, Weiss?” I answer, turning my back to Blake so she can’t see my panicked expression, “Yeah, I’m just here with Blake. You guys are coming back up? Do you need any help?”

She must have picked up on the vibes that I’m sending out because she asked me to come down to help, even though she told me that all they bought was a couple of dresses.

"I'll be right back," I say before bolting out the door and away from that awkward situation.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I get downstairs, the only person that I see is Weiss. Apparently she sent Ruby upstairs into that king taiju's nest that I might have had something to do with. Weiss stands in front of me, pinching her forehead.

"Yang, if Ruby's a dolt, you're the queen of the dolts. Do I need to put a muzzle on you when I'm not here? Didn't I explicitly - explicitly tell you not to say anything that might jeopardize your sister's chances?"

"Hey that's not fair, Blake's wiley and you know it. I'd like to see you last against her type of psychological warfare!"

"Fine!" She yells, taking a deep breath and exhaling to regain her composure, "I'm sorry for yelling. What exactly did you tell her?"

I explain what had just occurred upstairs and can see her becoming visibly annoyed as I go on. By the time I'm finished explaining, her face is completely pale, even more than it usually is.

"Yang," she whispers, "We need to get up there right now. Ruby's alone and you know that she has no filter on her mouth."

The sound that we make running up the stairs must sound like a hoard of grimm running through the school. Fortunately no faculty tries to stop us. Quickly albeit out of breath, we get to the dorm and are about to open the door when Blake opens it, glaring at me before storming down the hall.

Inside the room sits a confused Ruby, holding a book in her hands.

"Uh, Yang?” Ruby asks, scratching her head, “Did you . . . say something to Blake? She didn’t want to talk to me.”

Weiss shakes her head, grabbing the bridge of her nose.

“Well, um. I'm going to go after her,” Ruby announces.

Neither Weiss nor I make a move to go after her as she bolts through the doorway and instead stand in uncomfortable silence.

“So, how was the shopping?” I ask, trying to get something out of Ruby's partner.

“Yang. Please,” she replies, walking into the bathroom.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ruby

I run out of the room, dropping the confused mask that Blake asked me to wear when Weiss and my sister got back. She wanted to speak to me alone, and I might be a little too hopeful, but my heart's pounding. On the way back, I noticed an original manuscript of The Tale of the Inquisition in the window of a book store and asked Weiss if she could buy it for me to give to Blake. She did it without hesitation, probably guessing at the book's purpose. Finally, I find Blake sitting at the edge of the staircase leading down to where the library is.

“Ruby,” she greets, smiling warmly, “Thanks for playing along.”

“Heh, Yang's always pranking me so. . .” I don’t know how to end this sentence.

It's quiet. Blake pats the staircase next to her.

“You said you wanted to show me something?” She stares at the book in my left hand.

“Oh! Yeah, I found this for you when Weiss and I went shopping. It's the original manuscript of the first serial in The Tale of the Inquisition. It even has writing in the margins - I think it's Tethras’ handwriting.”

I hand the book to Blake with a huge smile on my face. She takes it carefully as though it were some sort of ancient treasure. I watch her face as she leafs through it, looking for a change from her muted happiness. Instead I see the smile slowly drop from her face.

“What's wrong? Don't you like it?” I ask, trying and failing to hide my disappointment.

“Oh, Ruby.” She wraps her arms around me, embracing me fully and resting her head on my right shoulder. “I love it.”

I smile and rest my head against her shoulder. Today has been a great day.


	9. Day Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a very rapid turn of events, Blake finds herself in an ?awkward? position.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, if you can, follow me on tumblr at unapollogeticallyauthor if you want updates and more. Drop a comment to let me know how I'm doing and please enjoy!

Blake

When she handed me the book, I looked at it and immediately knew. It couldn’t have been an original manuscript because its publication dates were wrong. But the way she looked at me, the way her voice quavered, I just couldn’t bring myself to tell her that it was a fake. I still really appreciate the gesture. It’s not like she could have known anyway.

Yang and Ruby went down to the ballroom to figure out the best place for the ice so that nobody slips and dies while dancing. Weiss sits on her bed, gently brushing her long, white hair. Today was a nothing day, the dance is in a couple of days and all today, Yang has been oh so subtly hinting that I should take Ruby with me to the dance. I really don’t see why she would want that.

“You know Blake,” Weiss says, interrupting my thoughts. “If you’re not going to the dance with anyone, Ruby isn’t either and she would probably love to go with you.”

I toss the book down on my bed in frustration. Weiss too? “Alright, what’s going on? Why are you and Yang trying to get me to bring Ruby to the dance so badly? She’s a great friend, but that doesn’t mean that she wants to go with me. I’m serious; just let the girl live, Weiss.”

“Are you saying that if Ruby asks you to the dance, you’ll go with her?” Weiss asks in retaliation, putting me on a spot.

“Why? Does she have a crush on me?” I ask, jokingly. “Of course I would, it would be fun for both of us, and it’s not like I have a date.”

“Yes,” Weiss responds, picking up her scroll and typing something into it. “Blake, Yang and I haven’t been completely honest with you. Yes. Ruby has a huge crush on you and we just want her, and you, to be happy. You aren’t . . . mad at us for keeping that from you, are you?”

The smile falls from my face. I really did mean what I said as a joke. That’s not true is it? Why would Ruby like me in that way? “I . . . I need to go out for a little bit,” I reply.

I nonchalantly walk to the door and leave the room, opening my scroll when I get outside. If this is true, then I need to set something straight with Ruby and let her know how I feel. I just don’t want her to expect too much because I don’t think that I feel the same way. Don’t get me wrong, Ruby’s adorable, she reads more than the other two so we have stuff to talk about constantly, but that’s just it. We really only talk about books, and that isn’t something that we would be able to sustain a relationship with. I will admit that Ruby’s cute, but she’s like a sister. The only reason that I would say yes to her asking me is for curiosity’s sake. If we can get through an entire evening together without it becoming awkward in a bad way, well I’d probably have to test it another day.

I open my scroll and send Ruby a quick message that reads: Ruby, I need to speak to you. Meet me by the statue.

I take my time walking down towards the statue of the great heroes. It’s a monument to what all of benevolence should strive to be. In a way, it's a testament to all of the sins that I committed during my time with the White Fang. That and the omnipresence of it has given it a strange kind of calming sensation and while I don’t need it, it’s soothing to have just in case. With Ruby’s semblance, she should be there before me unless she decided against using it.

As I round the corner, I see Ruby, a crimson silhouette against the light of the fragmented moon.

“Hey,” she says timidly as I approach, sitting down on the rim of the statue’s base underneath the fallen beowolf.

“Hello,” I reply, my voice retaining its normal calm tone. My heart rate is definitely higher than normal though.

I think I know why that is too. The last time that anybody showed me any romantic interest was Sun. And I lost a friend. If that were to happen to Ruby and I, I don't know what I would do; I have to see her every day after all.

“So . . . what's up?” She asks as a gust of wind blows through, effectively lowering my temperature. I shiver, wrapping my arms around my body. It's not entirely from the cold.

“Blake? Are you cold?” She opens her cloak and motions with her head to sit next to her.

I don't argue and sit next to my leader who drapes the left side of her cloak around my right side, carefully so as not to touch me. It's still warm with her body heat.

“Thank you,” I clear my throat, “Ruby, Weiss told me something. Do you want to tell me anything before I say it?”

She nods, but doesn't say anything for a while. Both of our body heats reflect off of the cloak onto us. This in and of itself is nice

“Blake. I - um. Would you like to go to the dance - with me?” she stutters, eventually getting out what she meant to. Weiss probably messaged her about what I said.

Without any hesitation, I give her an answer. By her shocked expression, I can tell that she didn't expect it.

“What? Really? Are you sure?” She asks, as though she’s afraid that I’ll change my mind in the three seconds that it took her to respond. “But what does that make us?”

“One step at a time, Ruby. Let’s make it through the dance first, alright?” I say, not promising too little or too much. She deserves it after the whole fiasco with the Vytal festival last year anyway.

“Ok,” she eventually replies, resting her head on my shoulder.

We stay like that for a while, letting the sounds and scents of the night envelop us. Under the light of the moon and the discordant, but welcomed chirping of crickets just the two of us sit. I'm content and almost nod off thanks to the warmth of Ruby and her cloak when her stomach growls noisily.

Well, it was a wonderful moment while it lasted.

“I'm sorry,” she whispers, a horrified expression settled on her face.

I can't help, but laugh. That's just so . . . Ruby Rose, “Ruby, do you want to get something to eat?”

She answers me timidly with a smile, “Yes.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's a good thing that Beacon’s kitchen is as fully stocked as it's library because hearing Ruby speaking about what she was going to eat put me in a snacking mood.

On the way, I sent Yang a message asking what I could make to surprise her and she immediately responded with ‘strawberry’ - just strawberry. Well I suppose I can’t go wrong with making a simple smoothie.

Ruby dives into the pantry, trying to find a suitable snack and considering the size of Beacon’s kitchen, I should have enough time to surprise her. I quickly stop by all the necessary drawers, taking the ingredients that I need easily, as all of the containers are alphabetical. Laid out before me are 2 sticks of dried vanilla bean, a bowlful of strawberries, milk from Haywood Dairies, and plain yogurt that's in a milk carton for some reason.

I'll be honest, I have no idea how to do this so I do what makes sense, throwing all the ingredients into a nearby blender and hitting the on button. While it does its thing, I find a glass and place it down, hitting the stop button on the blender. It looks a little bit thick on top, but I'm sure that it'll be fine. I quickly pour the smoothie into the glass and pick it up, awaiting the return of the small redhead.

She walks out with a chocolate chip cookie in her mouth and an armful of other sugary treats, “Blake, whash tha’?” She asks, swallowing half the cookie whole.

“I made this for you. It's a strawberry smoothie,” I explain, thrusting it outwards.

She drops everything that she has, wasting a fair amount of sweets - not like there's much loss there - and takes the smoothie, sipping cautiously.

Her face flickers momentarily, and she looks down at the drink like it's offended her in some way.

“This is awesome!” She says with obvious difficulty before taking a deep breath and proceeding to chug the whole thing, slamming it down with a shudder, “let's get back to the dorm.”

She doesn't wait for me to respond and dashes away, presumably to the dorm.

When I get back, I hear what sounds like retching coming from the bathroom. Weiss, as expected wears a pair of fluffy earmuffs to cancel sound - she hates the sound of someone vomiting, and considering Yang's party girl nature, it was a good investment. Her sister stands by the door with a sly smile on her face.

“Hey, Blake,” she smirks, “I haven't heard Ruby this excited since she got Crescent Rose.”

We're interrupted by a particularly painful sounding retch, followed by a strangled coughing fit.

“Rubes? Don't choke to death! The dance is tomorrow and you won't be able to go!” She yells, shaking her head, “Seriously though, thanks for deciding to take my baby sister.”

“I don't think I had much of a choice. And she's been a really good friend so we'll see what happens. You wouldn't be against it if we started dating right?”

“Why would I? I know that she'd be in good hands.”

I nod, thinking carefully. Ruby is obviously more into me than I'm into her, but there's always time to change that.

I just hope it isn't too awkward.


	10. The Dance: Expectations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here! The dance, and also the beginning of something interesting (This is where the Freezerburn starts to develop)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Boo! I’m the ghost of Christmas past, bearing gifts for all the good people of this earth! Until Christmas, I shall upload a new chapter every day. Then I’m taking a hiatus for a good portion of the break to work on some other writing pieces. Please do enjoy, and I love reading feedback good or bad so drop me some of that if you have any. Thanks!

Yang

Today's finally the day. After all of Weiss and my hard work, all the fights (some physical), and all the pages of that stupid white binder, we did it; Blake agreed to go to the dance with Ruby.

At least that's what I assumed happened when Ruby ran into the bathroom and immediately began to throw up. Also Weiss told me that Blake left to see my sister. That may have tipped me off to it.

Between retches, Ruby attempted to explain that Blake made her a smoothie with old milk, but didn't have the heart to explain that it was essentially poison.

That sounded like something my sister would do.

Anyway, I stand, waiting by the door with my clipboard just like I did last year. A wave of students and their dates flood into the room, unaware of the awesomeness that Weiss and I have planned for them.

“How are we doing on space?” Weiss asks like, appearing beside me like a ghost.

“Good,” I respond simply trying to tally the people that I know on the list, while simultaneously registering their dates.

“And our special couple?”

“They're not here yet, but my baby sister sent me a message - they should be here soon.”

My white haired colleague nods and places her hand on my shoulder, “Don't forget, brute. We have to perform our gimmick every fifteen minutes or so.”

I look down at her and smile. I haven't forgotten. It's then that I notice her dress. Like last year, our outfits are very similar. Both are white, but unlike hers with its loose shoulders and closed back, mine is tight, and nearly covers my entire body, save for the burning heart shape cut out over my cleavage and the v that’s cut all the way down to my lower back. I'm also wearing my oldest, most worn high top sneakers with my emblem freshly burned into the side. The burning heart was Nora’s idea, but I'm not complaining; I know what I have and I'm proud of it,

“Why wait, snowflake? Let's start now!” I lead her to the corner that Blake sequestered, to use her word, and make two fists, pressing them together. I didn’t bring Ember Celica; wouldn’t want to ruin one of my only two formal dresses.

“Ready?” Weiss asks, opening her palm towards me and presenting a spinning white glyph.

I nod and leap into the air, twirling once for effect - everyone’s watching since the dance hasn’t really started yet - and come down fist first, channeling my aura into a point. As I impact the ice, I feel the satisfying rush of cool air that signals the physical change of ice to steam.

When the initial cloud clears and settles into a thin layer of smoke on the ground, I smirk at Weiss.

“If anyone’s shoes have wrinkles, at least the steam’ll take care of them.”

“I suppose you’re right. Now don’t you have a job to do? I’ll switch off in about an hour,” she replies, looking at her scroll which buzzed twice, “Oh! Ruby and Blake should be arriving shortly. We should greet them.”

“Well I am manning the door, Weiss. I don’t think it’s possible for me not to greet them.”

“I meant that I should greet them with you bigger dolt.”

I ignore Weiss’ insult and return a smile, walking back towards my assigned position. By now, there’s a line despite the steam making process only taking five minutes or so. Weiss beside me, I check students off of the list until a very familiar cap of reddish black hair appears before me.

“Wow, Rubes, you look so cute!” I gush, resisting the urge to squeeze my sister until she squeals like one of Zwei’s toys.

“Yang!” she protests, blushing a little bit.

I love seeing my little sister flustered; it’s adorable. Almost as adorable as when she makes a good call as leader or gets really excited. It must just be a big sister thing.

“Good evening, Ruby, Blake. Come in, as you could probably already tell, the dance will be starting shortly,” Weiss says, motioning at the dance floor, which couples were starting to tentatively approach.

“Thank you,” Blake returned courteously, offering a muted smile.

With that, Ruby and Blake walk to a couple of chairs on the far side of the room, near a window overlooking the courtyard.

“I'm going to go moderate the dance, make sure everything is working out . . .” Her voice trails off.

“You mean you're going to spy on them.”

“You can't prove that,” she walks away, flipping her hair over her other shoulder.

What a diva.

For the next fifteen minutes, I let everyone into the room, abandoning my previous method and just counting the partygoers. By then the sheet of fog around my ankles begins to thin, letting me know that it's time to make some more.

When I walk to our little area, pushing my way through the people standing on the sideline, I catch Weiss with a very rare genuine smile on her face. It's really weird and makes me a little uncomfortable.

“Uh, who's the lucky guy?” I ask, breaking her out of whatever thoughts are going through her head.

She blushes.

“There isn't one you just caught me off guard.”

“Fair enough. Something happened between Ruby and Blake?”

She nods curtly, “Don't jinx it.”

“Ok, well let's do this.”

I leap into the air, but this time nobody's looking. They're all focused on their partners and those who would've been their partners if they had acted sooner. Jilted love, jilted lust, straight up lust and a generally good time radiates from the dance floor. In other words: a teen party.

With more heat, I come down and replenish the fog much to the enjoyment of the crowd. I'm glad that it's appreciated.

“See you in fifteen minutes,” I say and return to my post.

By now, almost everyone has funneled into the room. Jaune and Pyrrha showed up late, more than likely because of Jaune than Pyrrha. She doesn't look unhappy though so good for her. Besides that, nothing else happens.

Another fifteen minutes pass and I walk back to our spot and see Weiss chugging something like her life depended on it.

“Thirsty?” I ask, readying my stance.

“They stopped dancing for a little while and went to the drink table. I needed to participate to not look suspicious. This is my fifth drink and I don't even know what it is. It's delicious though.” 

She offers me the cup and I take it, sniffing the rim and smile. This punch is spiked with something that I didn't think would be possible to get ahold of. It's supposed to have more than twenty times the amount of caffeine in the Grimm energy drinks that I like.

If I had to guess, I'd think that Cardin was the one who had the stash. Or maybe it was Nora. That girl is made of energy.

Weiss and I get another coat of fog off easily and return to our posts. I don't think She'll be able to be as subtle as she usually thinks she is with that lightning coursing through her veins.

“Miss Xiao Long,” Goodwitch greets me, holding Professor Ozpin’s arm.

Their relationship may be platonic, but they look great together. Ozpin wears what appears to be his regular clothing, but Goodwitch went all out, with a simple dark red dress that complements her green eyes nicely.

“Professor,” I reply, using a professional tone of voice, “you look hot!” The professional tone disappears.

“And you look quite lovely yourself. May we come in?”

“Of course, right this way. The VIP section is on the balcony,” I wink, knowing that there isn't one at all, but that it offers a lot of privacy.

“Thank you,” Ozpin says, drinking deep from that mug that he seems to always have with him.

As they leave, I realize that another fifteen minutes have passed.

“Yang! Yang! Yang!” Weiss yells, her voice is hushed, but loud.

Yeesh. I think that bowl might've been spiked with a little bit more than just energy drinks.

“Calm down. I'm right here,” I put my finger to my lips.

“I was spying - I mean watching Blake and Ruby and something big was happening. You'll never guess who walked in on it. Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch,” she answers for me.

“Weiss, are you drunk?”

“What? No! I'm legitimately freaking out. I need to know what's going on.”

“Ok how about this: we make the steam and then you take the door. I'll spy on them. I wanna see how my baby sister’s doing anyway.”

She nods, taking a deep breath and creating the ice sheet as I leap up. Again, a cool layer of fog spreads outwards much to the approval of the crowd. It must be getting really hot in there.

I walk Weiss over to the podium and hand her the clipboard with my scrawl all over it. I figure that I don't need to explain how to do it.

I leave her with her new job, and walk to find my sister when I have an idea.

This might be crazy, but you know what? Like my favorite member of The Achieve Men says:

YOLO


	11. The Dance: Into The Unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2/4 of the dance.

Weiss

I'm almost certain that I'm sober. During my time as a singer, I've partaken of alcohol at least twice; I think I would be able to tell.

“Ok how about this: we make the steam and then you take the door. I'll spy on them. I wanna see how my baby sister’s doing anyway.”

I nod and ready myself, channeling my aura through the freeze dust in the vial under my sleeve. Yang jumps into the air and falls back to the ground, bringing with her a fog cover.

Afterwards Yang leads me to the podium near the front of the room. She hands me the clipboard covered in what appears to be chickenscratch and walks away. I don’t think this job is absolutely necessary at this point since it’s an hour later. Who else could walk in?

“You know, Weiss, I doubt that anyone else is going to show up. Do you want to dance?” Yang asks, literally out of nowhere.

“What? Dance?”

“Yes that’s what I said. Dance.”

Overhead, the song changes to an upbeat almost summery song that reminds me of my childhood vacations to the sand strewn beaches of Vacuo.

“Oh! Come on! This one’s my favorite!” She says, taking me by the arm and pulling me onto the dancefloor before I have a chance to protest.

“Yang, I can’t dance to this . . . club filth,” I respond crossing my arms and staring at her.

That’s not necessarily true. What I meant to say was that she’ll probably somehow get me killed. She’s up to two blown up clubs now.

“Follow my lead, I promise it won’t hurt,” she offers me her hand, the same self-assured smile resting on her face that I’ve seen way too often in the recent weeks

I sigh, but offer her my left hand. The sooner this is over, the better.

We start slowly, merely moving our feet back and forth to the music with our hands connected. I feel ridiculous. Well, until I see Blake dancing with Ruby. Ruby’s smile stretches from ear to ear and I remember that that wouldn’t have been possible without this brutes help. If she wants to dance, that’s the least I could do.

“You’re pretty good at this,” Yang smiles, twirling me effortlessly.

I loosen up a little bit, increasing the tempo of my footwork as the songs tempo increases. As a fencer, that’s one of the few things that I’ve really had to work on. And in very noticeable way dancing is like fencing.

“You expected anything less?” I respond, taking the lead and pulling her forward.

Despite our disparity of size, she easily comes forward as I sidestep past her, pulling us back together.

Another thing that I learned when I was child in the military courts of Atlas was how to actually dance. Winter and I were just as potent weapons to him as the dust that they mined in the mountains.

“Of course not, princess,” she lifts me into the air and spins, placing me on the ground in front of her.

I turn around to see Blake, laughing by the punch bowl at something Ruby said, and feel Yang turn my face back to her.

“For this to work, I’m going to need you to keep your eyes on me, cool?” She asks, smiling confidently.

I nod.

We dance energetically, movements expressing that which has no true words. If I'm to be honest, it's rather fun. I haven't really had the chance to relax recently and this is great.

“Whoa that was tiring, “Yang says when the song ends, “I'm gonna go get a drink, want some?”

“I'll go with you,” I reply, seeing Ruby and Blake by the punch bowl again.

I don't think I'll be drinking the punch after the sugar high that I experienced earlier.

“Hi guys!” Ruby yells, clearly having gotten into the punch.

“Hi sis. How's the night going, Blake?”

Blake smiles politely, her face not giving much away. She leans on the edge of the table, “I'm impressed. I didn't know your sister could dance, Yang.”

“What, Ruby? When we were kids, she would always make me dance with her. I guess some of my skill rubbed off.”

“I saw you two dancing together,” Blake states matter of factly, not looking for any response.

“She insisted! You know how Yang gets,” I stammer, attempting to explain myself.

I wasn't the one that wanted to dance. In fact u would've been fine manning the door. Speaking of which, I glance back at the podium. Nobody would have come in and it really doesn't matter; we got the brunt of the participants.

“I love this one! Come one!” Yang grabs my arm and pulls me back towards the dance floor.

“Hey! Yang! I don't -”

“Shut up and dance with me,”

I sigh again, realizing that there's no use fighting her. I also do want to dance, but the abrupt way in which she grabbed me was startling.

“Ok, lead the way,” I answer with a sarcastic smile, tearing my arm away and motioning to the dance floor. “I'll talk to you later, Ruby.”

“You know, brute, there are other ways to get one's attention,” I say, taking her offered hand as we reach the dance floor.

“Yeah, I do, but where's the fun in that? You need to live a little, snowflake” She twirls me around. My fringes of my dress spin around in their own dance, my footwork keeping them in constant motion.

I used to get annoyed by the constant quips and nicknames that Yang would give me and that would give her a reason to keep doing it. I've learned not to let it bother me. What's the point?

“Fun? There's fun in order. In structure. You're talking about chaos, Yang,” I say, changing my stance as a slow song comes on.

Instinctually, I put my right hand on her lower back and take her left in my own. Then I realize what I've done, but at that point it's too late.

“That's what I'm talking about, ice queen,” Yang says, a strange glint sparkling in her eye. She tightens her grip on my hand, just enough to keep me from moving, but not enough to hurt me.

“Shut up and dance,” I repeat a mocking tone in my voice.

“Purr, I like it when you get feisty,” she says, obeying me and beginning the four beat step that this song requires.

This song is one that I've only heard in Vale, but it's tempo is the same as the court dances in Atlas. A memory flashes before my eyes of my sister dancing with me, reminding me of times before the White Fang made my childhood difficult to say the least.

“I didn't know you could slow dance,” I say, using the conversational skills that my father thought necessary to plant in me.

“I don't, I'm just following your lead,” she replies, smiling in a way that leads me to believe that she's hiding the truth.

Maybe I'm just jealous that a skill, which took me a good portion of my childhood to learn could be picked up so easily of someone so far beneath me.

I scold myself. I shouldn't think of my teammates a below me. We've been through enough together for them to be considered part of the family.

“Well color me impressed,” I say, keeping her footwork in check so that she doesn't crush my toes.

“You, impressed?” She asks sardonically, a faint smile dancing across her lips.

I smile back in spite of myself, but quickly make a noise of disgust to hide it. For a while, we dance quietly, letting the beats carry us across the dance floor and back again.

It’s then that I realize how tired I am. The slow tempo of the music certainly doesn’t help. Yang surely notices me beginning to doze off because she carts me back off of the dance floor to the chairs set up against the wall. I honestly don’t know how long we danced for. Ruby and Blake are gone, to where I don’t know, but I hope everything’s working out well for them.

“Come on, I’m going to bring you back to the dorm,” She says, scooping me up bridal style into her arms.

How humiliating. I kick and flail, trying to get back onto the ground to no avail. She’s too strong.

“Yang! I am perfectly capable of walking!”

She ignores my protests, instead carrying me out of the ballroom and down the hallway to the residential area. Realizing that my pleas fall on deaf ears, I stop. The rocking motion of her stride doesn’t help me stay awake and lulls me. I have to fight myself to stay awake.

Before I know it, Yang’s laying me down on my bed. I look over to Blake’s bed and don’t see her there, and strain myself to try to hear Ruby snoring, but I don’t. They must not be home yet.

“Nightgown,” I mumble sleepily, rolling onto my side and pointing at my closet.

“What? Oh, ok,” Yang walks to my closet and pulls one of my nightgowns down from a hanger. With all the ceremony that I have come to expect from her, she balls it up and throws it onto my bed.

I can feel sleep taking me, but before I let it win I peel off my dress and throw my nightgown over myself. It feels a little bit drafty, but it’s too late. I disappear under the covers, close my eyes and see nothing.


	12. The Dance: Fulfillment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> part 3/4 of the dance. POV Ruby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for readers like you.

Ruby

I don’t think I would’ve imagined that this day would come a year ago. Alright, maybe I would’ve imagined it, but I would never have acted. Blake agreed to go out with me, and sure there’s fine print, but that won’t matter if we have an awesome time tonight.

After struggling for a few moments to zip up the back of my dress, I get it done. Now for the leggings. I sit down on the toilet seat and feel soft and very expensive fabric between my calloused fingers and thumb. The odds that these are actually going to impress her aren’t very high, but they are pretty comfortable.

I attach the garters connected to my dress to the leggings and look myself over in the mirror. Turning a few times, I nod in satisfaction. Weiss did a great job with these. They look pretty cool on me.

My opinion isn’t what matters though.

I quickly send a message to Yang, letting her know that Blake and I should be there in five minutes or so. Then, bundling the rest of my clothes, I step out of the bathroom and nod shyly at my companion, who lounges on Weiss’ bed comfortably. I doubt that she would mind, since she’s busy moderating the dance or something.

The sight of her makes my heart quicken, though not as much as her comment. “Ruby, you look wonderful.” She offers a quick smile and gets up, smoothing off her own dress.

It takes all of my strength to keep my jaw from dropping. She’s one to talk. The way her slender, yet toned frame fills her purple summer dress. The way her eyes shine with beautiful amber light. Just everything about her is perfect. There’s no way I could even compare.

“Vale to Ruby. Are you just going to stand there? Or . . .”

“S - Sorry,” I stammer, offering her my hand, but dropping it. “You look incredible.”

She senses my nervousness and instead offers me her arm. With gratitude, I loop my arm through hers and open the door with my free hand, awkwardly trying to keep it open as we walk through.

“Ruby, can I tell you something?” We walk down a flight of steps to the ground floor, turning right at the next intersection. “I might be more nervous than you are.”

That one hits me like that truck that would’ve hit me last year if Penny hadn’t been there.

“What? Why are you nervous? Compared to you, I’m just a little girl.” I look up to her incredulously.

She looks at me like I’m crazy. “Well,” she begins, removing her arm and adjusting a strand of loose hair from her forehead. “I haven’t had a really serious romantic relationship since before Beacon and this,” she motions to the both of us without saying anything more.

I nod wordlessly and walk alongside her, still unsure of how I should act. Should I be more of a listener? Should I talk? If so what should I talk about?

My thoughts are broken into by the music from the ballroom and I look to Blake. She offers me her arm again and we walk through the doorway together. The steam on the floor, which I recognize from their freezerburn combo attack, tells me that Weiss and my sis have been busy.

“Wow, Rubes, you look so cute!” Yang squeals, and I can tell from the way that she’s holding herself that she’s trying her hardest not to pick me up like she always does.

“Yang!” I whine, my face probably turning as red as the highlights in my hair.

She smiles at me, biting her lip to stifle a laugh. A list of things that are “not ladylike” according to Weiss scrolls through my mind. I can’t decide what I should call her later for embarrassing me on what might be the most important night of my life.

“Good evening, Ruby, Blake. Come in, as you could probably already tell, the dance will be starting shortly,” Weiss says politely, sweeping her hand to show Blake and I the not full, but not empty dance floor.

The room buzzes with a nervous energy, kind of like the energy released when I pull Crescent Roses trigger. All that it needs is a spark. I’m guessing that the spark is going to be good music. Yang’s got great taste and I hope that she’ll go with Jeff Williams at least once. He’s an instant classic.

“Thank you,” Blake returns in a similar manner, before steering me to a couple of chairs by the window.

This may be silly, but every time that I step foot into this room I remember the first night that I spent here at Beacon. The spot that she chose here is directly across the place where we first had a conversation. Where I shared my dream of helping people, of being a hero. In fact, I can feel the same fear and nervousness that I felt then now. The context is just a little bit different.

Ok, it’s a lot of bit different. That doesn’t mean I won’t be able to tackle it the same way I always tackle an obstacle. Dad always called it the “Rose stubbornness”. He said that mom was the same way and it made me so happy to be like her. It still does.

I look down and see Blake massaging her ankle, openly wearing irritation. Why is she massaging her ankle?

“Blake, are you ok?” I ask, plopping down beside her. The last thing I need is for the girl who I want to be my girlfriend to be hurt on a night out with me. I’ll feel guilty even if I had nothing to do with it.

She jumps, like she forgot that I was there until I spoke up. The irritation disappears, becoming a smile quickly. “Yeah, Ruby. Sorry, these shoes hurt my ankles. Is it alright if we take breaks from dancing occasionally?”

I nod vigorously, hard enough to make my head fall off. “Yeah, of course. I wouldn’t want you to feel uncomfortable - we don’t even need to dance if you don’t want to,” I say genuinely. I just want her to have a good time, even if going to the dance doesn’t mean dancing.

“Oh, no, Ruby Rose. This is your - this is our night and we’re going to dance.”

The quiet intensity that’s coming off of her must be the same feistiness that Yang always talks about when she and Blake come back from a mission. I have to say that I like her more than words can say. If I was a writer, I could just put it in a book and change the names and it would be easy. She would know and I would know and it would be something that was completely ours.

“Promise to tell me when you need a break?” I ask, extending my pinky.

Blake chuckles, recognizing the international signal for a pinky promise. She extends her own and locks it around mine.

“Well with that settled, do you want to go grab a spot before the floor gets too filled?” She asks, motioning to the dance floor.

“Nothing would make me happier,” I respond truthfully.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We take our places on the floor, mingling with the other students, most of their faces familiar to me and some new. By the looks on some of those faces, I can tell that Ruby Rose was the last person that they expected Blake Belladonna with or vice versa.

Maybe some of them thought that my only love was my scythe. That was true once, and this might sound cheesy, but that was before I met Blake.

When the music finally starts, it starts in a quick dance beat of a familiar tune that Yang has taken on as her anthem, with good reason. It’s like Jeff Williams wrote the song about her or something like that.

This is like a mosh pit. I’ve only ever been to one concert. The Achieve Men came to Patch once and Yang made sure that she had a ticket for the both of us. Yes, we were in a mosh pit. It was incredible then, but right now all I can think about are Blake’s poor ankles. Jumping in heels can’t be comfortable.

She did promise that she would tell me when she couldn’t take it, and I’m going to trust her. Like dad always told Yang, “What is a relationship without trust?” He wasn’t talking about a romantic relationship though. Yang took out her Bumblebee after curfew and of course dad had to ground her only to un-ground her later that day when he needed her help bringing in groceries. I guess the Rose stubbornness isn’t specific to just mom and I.

After two more songs, Blake whispers that she needs to sit down for a second, and asks me to help her off the dance floor. I drape her right arm around my neck and help her walk to the two chairs that we claimed. It probably looks like I’m carrying an injured teammate off of the battlefield and that is pretty much what’s happening. Last year, Ozpin told me that I couldn’t spend my entire life on a battlefield, even if I wanted to, but even now on a dance floor I’m on a battlefield.

“Ah,” Blake exclaims as she sits, lifting her feet up off the ground. “I’d rather have the weight on my legs than my ankle.”

“Here, let me help,” I respond, reaching for her heels as she tries to get them off.

With the deft hands that it takes to use a weapon like Crescent Rose, I have her shoes off in seconds and although she didn’t ask me, I rub my palms together to generate heat and press them on the back of her heels.

“Ouch,” She winces, and I instinctively remove my hands.

The last thing that I want to do is hurt her.

“No, Ruby. That feels good, keep doing it,” she asks, wincing again as I touch her feet. The pained look fades away quickly and is replaced by comfort, and I can’t keep from smiling.

If we start dating, I know what I’m going to do for her after every mission.

A couple of songs pass by before she asks if we could get back out there. We do, and just in time for the DJ to yell out “This one’s for you, Blonde dude who was in a dress last year,” before blasting Shine by Jeff Williams. The floor pretty much clears for Team JNPR as they replicate their dance from last year. The energy picks up quickly as the other dancers figure out the steps.

It’s not long before Blake and I join in the line dance and dance through to the end of the song twice because of the crowd’s demands for an encore. The whole time we dance, I stare at Blake, drinking in every detail about her body, her movements, the way that she laughs - I could go on forever, but I won’t.

After that dance, I’m thirsty and need a glass of punch or maybe four or five.

“How’s the night so far?” I ask Blake over a shared glass. She insisted that we share, not wanting to make to have to keep track of two cups.

“So far? Better than I expected. I feel pretty comfortable. The foot rubs certainly help,” she replies playfully winking at me.

“I’ll remember that,” I say happily, having already decided to remember it earlier in the evening.

A flash of white makes me glance over her shoulder, and sure enough, Weiss is there, casually sipping from a glass.

“Hi, Ruby, Blake,” she sings, humming a song under her breath. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Weiss this cheerful before. It’s kind of scary actually.

“Hi, Weiss. Are you . . . alright?” Blake asks, glancing at me with amusement in her eyes.

I take her glass and walk to the bowl that Weiss hovers over, downing the rest of mine and filling it with the punch in that bowl. Just one sip sets my sugar senses off. There’s more in this stuff than I’ve had the whole week, and that’s saying something. Weiss is my partner and I’m not sure how much more she can have before falling into a sugar coma. I turn back to Blake and nod my head towards Weiss’ cup, a silent request.

She understands what I mean and walks to the smaller girl, all but wrenching the cup out of her hands. “Weiss, you need to let go now.”

After a brief struggle, it’s as if Weiss remembered who and where she was, and quickly walks away.

Blake and I share a gaze and burst out laughing. “That was weird, wasn’t it?” She asks, spilling Weiss’ drink in a nearby garbage can.

“That probably would’ve surprised me once,” I reply, taking a drink of the supercharged punch. “But it’s Weiss, you know?”

“True, I’ve learned to expect anything from her,” Blake says nonchalantly. “Could I try some?” She points to our glass.

I hand it to her, but expect the worst. My body has pretty much built up immunity to sugar. The sugar high’s a part of who I am now.

“This is . . . really, very not good,” She sticks out her tongue after barely taking a sip and hands the glass back to me.

“Yeah,” I agree, pouring the rest of it into the trash can.

“Do you want to go get some air?” She asks, motioning to the balcony with her head.

My heart quickens again. It’ll be the first time we’re alone together tonight. Unable to form a word, I nod.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The atmosphere outside is warm enough, but not unbearably warm like inside. The view overlooking the city of Vale is beautiful, arguably more so than the view from the airship when we arrived.

The open air also definitely helps. If Blake was in a good mood inside the ballroom, she’s over the moon now.

We stand close together without saying anything for a while. It’s still hard to believe that any of this is happening. Every so often, I glance over to her, just to make sure that she’s still there.

Finally, after what feels like an hour, she turns to me. What looks, to me, like curiosity flashes in her eyes, but that might just be the moonlight.

“If we were to date, hypothetically, what exactly would your intentions be?” She looks at me - no that’s wrong - into me a though reading my thoughts.

The answer to this question of course is marriage and a family, but I don’t think that I should lead with that. What’s a way of saying that without using the M word or the L word?

“Well, companionship and comfort for as long as possible.”

“But ultimately marriage, right?” She asks, seeing through the front that I put up.

“Yes, marriage.”

She nods wordlessly and looks out over the city again. I wish that I could read her like she can read me even though that would make the relationship boring. The more that I can learn about her, the better. It should make for good talks.

“Ok,” she says, smiling at me. “You realize that I’m not as into you as you are to me, but we’re both looking for the same things. If you’re willing to try, I would be willing to.”

My aura soars, and all that I can feel is excitement and happiness.

“Well -” I begin, searching my mind for words to show how happy I am.

“Provided that we start slowly,” she says, speaking slowly and clearly. “From what Yang told me, this is your first relationship and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if you didn’t get to enjoy every moment of it.”

That’s weird. It sounds like she’s talking from experience. I know that she dated Sun briefly, but that never really got off the ground.

Just as I’m about to speak, I’m interrupted again. But it’s not Blake this time.

“Ms. Rose, Ms. Belladonna. What Have we here?”


	13. The Dance: Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> conclusion of the dance story arc.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for following. I don't know when I'll be back, but I will be with more fluffy or more sads. We'll see lol. Anyway, enjoy this. I'm sure you've earned it

Blake

I don’t know what it is. Ruby has been showing an increasing amount of maturity in the past few weeks. She’s still that same girlish grimm-killer that I’ve known for the past year, but somehow different, more reserved. They say that individuals in a couple become more like their partner as time goes on, but we’re not a couple yet.

There’s my problem. I don’t want her to be somebody else for me specifically. If she were maturing as a byproduct of growing up, that would be perfectly ok, but I don’t want her to do it for my benefit.

After thinking for a moment, looking out over the neat chaos of Vale’s skyline, I decide something: I won’t tell this to Ruby. I’ll give her until the end of the night, and if there’s nothing there besides Ruby Rose - the real Ruby Rose, then I will become we for the first time in a long time.

“Ms. Rose, Ms. Belladonna. What Have we here?” Professor Ozpin’s businesslike drawl breaks into my thoughts. “I was told that this was a VIP area by a certain Ms. Xiao Long. Could you be the VIP’s that she was talking about?”

Ruby’s mouth opens and closes like a fish. She was obviously just about to say something.

“Good evening Professor Ozpin,” I nod politely. “Professor Goodwitch.”

This is definitely a situation that I would use the word awkward in. As of now, I haven’t broken the habit of creating an alibi when confronted by an authority figure. By the flow of the aura here, I won’t need an alibi this time.

“You know,” he begins, punctuating his thought with a sip of whatever’s in his mug. “Youth is a powerful yet, in most cases, fleeting phenomenon. You’ll never know when you cross the line from child to adult until it’s too late. The point being that you should take comfort in each other and have fun while you’re young and full of energy, before you’re consumed by the endless barrage of hunts and missions. You won’t regret it and if you do?” He chuckles, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose. “That just means that you’re still learning. Enjoy your evening.”

“Professor Ozpin, we’re not together together,” Ruby says, forcing a smile. She blushes very easily.

Ozpin looks at the two of us, not buying it for one second before nodding in assent. “Of course not. Good evening, girls.”

“Oh no, you don’t have to leave, we’ll go,” Ruby motions towards the large arching doorway and starts walking with me close behind.

“He didn’t believe you at all, you know,” I smile with the meaning that I didn’t believe her either.

“I know,” she frowns. “I say some stupid things when I panic.”

“That’s alright, Ruby. We’ll work on your language skills together,” I reply, placing my hand on her shoulder.

When I said we were taking it slowly I meant it. Besides, that’s close to a hug and maybe she’ll even get one before tomorrow. The night is still young.

“Whoa, is that Yang dancing with Weiss?” She cups her hands like binoculars over her eyes and laughs. “It is! Blake, we need to get out there.”

I allow the little redhead to pull me onto the dance floor just as the song overhead reaches its chorus. We float across the dance floor, spinning with the music and separating, but always staying just within arm’s reach. She laughs the whole time, grinning widely with a happy glint in her eyes. Her joy makes me smile and soon, I’m laughing too.

When the dance ends we exit the dance floor, both of us parched from all of the laughter. Weaving through the sea of people, we eventually reach the drink table, but to my great disappointment the only drink left on the table is the bowl of supercharged punch.

That doesn’t seem to bother Ruby much. She drinks, or rather chugs, two glasses. I lean on the table, impressed, but not astonished by the feat. If there’s anything that I’ve learned after living with the girl for the past year, it’s that her sugar tolerance is off the charts.

“Hi, guys!” She yells, all but shattering my eardrums.

Weiss wears visible regret. I’d wager that it’s over the punch, not dancing with Yang. If her dancing skills are anywhere near her sister’s, then I’m sure that Weiss had a wonderful time.

“Hi sis,” Yang responds, a carefree smile on her face. “How's the night going, Blake?”

I return her smile.“I’m impressed. I didn’t know your sister could dance, Yang.”

“What, Ruby? When we were kids, she would always make me dance with her. I guess some of my skill rubbed off.”

I nod in assent. “I saw you two dancing together.”

“Sh - she insisted!” Weiss almost screams. What is that in her tone? Defensiveness? “You know how Yang gets.”

As the song changes again, Yang perks up like a dog. “I love this one! Come on!” She grabs Weiss’ arm and attempts to pull her back onto the dance floor.

It looks like Yang made Weiss her partner during the dance. I guess nobody’s manning the door anymore, or making steam for that matter.

“Hey! Yang! I don't -” Weiss complains, trying to pull against the superior force.

Yang turns back to her. “Shut up and dance with me,” she commands in her way, no ill intent apparent in her voice.

Weiss sighs in resignation, realizing something that I had a long time ago: There’s no point in arguing with Yang. You just can’t win.

“Ok, lead the way,” she answers, flashing a sarcastic smile. “I’ll talk to you later, Ruby.”

With that, team freezerburn leaves us, and I don’t think I have another dance left in me.

“Ruby, do you want to go for a walk?” I ask, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.

“Absolutely,” she replies with enthusiasm, amplified by the supercharged punch.

“We just need to stop by the room really quickly,” I sorely miss my ankle boots.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the way up to the room, we pass couples, completely lost to anything else but each other. It’s obvious what each and every one of them is thinking; their lust is almost palpable. Hopefully Ruby and I don’t get to that stage for a while. She’s still young.

When I finally pull off these deathtraps of shoes and slip into my comfortable ankle boots, I sigh in relief. If the swelling of my ankles weren’t any indication that I needed to buy new shoes, then I don’t know what is. Maybe I could take Ruby with me.

“So, where to?” She asks, closing the door behind us.

“I don’t know. I was hoping that you would have somewhere cool on campus to show me. You disappear sometimes,” I reply.

“Oh! That’s usually because I’m at the firing range, but there is a really cool spot on campus grounds where we can watch the stars,” she pauses. “If you want to.”

Stargazing. I’ve only ever read about it in books. I didn’t know that people actually did it. Because I spent my childhood outside the kingdoms, I wasn’t able to do some of the things that normal children might do.

“I would love to, but it would be my first time. Do you know the names of the constellations?”

She hesitates for a second. “Of course I do. I can teach them to you.”

The confidence with which she tells the lie impresses me. I’ve read about this in books too, and have even been on the receiving end of it multiple times. These types of lies I don’t mind.

“Well what are we waiting for?”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s not much different weather-wise than it was earlier in the evening except for a light breeze that carries with it the first wisps of summer warmth. I breathe deeply, feeling the connection to the land that I was born with.

Ruby takes me along a path that winds through the campus before turning off into an unlit forest path. The trees close in around us as we go forward, eventually thinning out as we enter a clearing. Amazingly, the city sounds of Vale can’t penetrate the dense foliage essentially creating a sound vacuum where Ruby and I are the only sounds.

“I brought this,” Ruby unrolls a blanket that she procures from one of her many pockets, waving it in front of me.

“How thoughtful, Ruby,” I say, causing the younger girl to beam up at me.

She unrolls and flattens it onto the ground, providing us with a cushion of grass to lay on. That’s how it usually begins in the books anyway.

“So, Ruby,” I point up towards a cluster of stars surrounding one brighter one. “Which constellation is that one?”

“Ursa major,” she says confidently. “Why the ancient kingdoms would name a constellation after a common grimm that was always trying to kill them doesn’t make any sense.” She rolls over to me so that our heads are practically touching, with only the fabric of her hood separating us. “The one right next to it is called Monty’s belt. It’s supposed to be the belt of one of Vale’s ancient heroes or something.”

“That one sounds made up,” I say, turning my head to face her.

“The one over there,” she points across my body towards a cluster of stars that just barely stick out over the backdrop of little bright lights. “That constellation is called Big Pot because it’s shaped like a big pot.”

“You’re joking.”

She throws up her arms in exasperation. “I’m not. The constellations just have stupid names. Sorry.”

I chuckle lightly, turning my body completely so that I’m facing towards her. “Why don’t we forget the stargazing for now and just enjoy this beautiful night.”

“The night’s not the only thing that’s beautiful,” Ruby mumbles, low enough so that a human wouldn’t be able to hear her.

Unfortunately for her, I’m not human.

“What was that?” I ask. She squeaks a little bit and blushes instantly.

She turns so that we’re facing each other now. The moon illuminates the right side of her face, the shadow creating an interesting effect that brings out all of her features. I suppose now is as good a time as any to bring up the issue that I was having earlier.

“You aren’t acting any differently just to impress me, are you?”

“Of course not,” she assures me, moving her hand, but hesitating. “If there’s one thing that I can promise, it’s to be honest. I’m pretty awful at hiding things from people; just ask Yang about the time I fed dad’s dinner to Zwei.”

“Good, that’s just what I wanted to hear,” I say.

Nothing much is said after that. We just bask in each other’s presence, neither of us wanting to leave. With the rhythm of my breath, I’m not surprised to see her blinking frequently in a feeble attempt to stay awake. It’s clear that she’s not going to win the fight and within minutes, she’s gone.

There’s something to be said about the privacy that this clearing provides. Unlike the school, this privacy doesn’t feel secret. It must just be the connection to the land again, but it feels like more open and free.

Another old habit from living outside the kingdoms is to be on alert, even when trying to sleep. That’s one of the things that I thought I would never grow out of, but being with Ruby is somehow different. There’s a feeling that’s similar to safety, but not exactly. Security would be a good word for it.

Although I’m not safe, I don’t feel a sense of danger. This must be what it feels like to have a home.


	14. Something Different

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss is feeling a little weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Goodness how great it is to be back. This is an arc that’s going to come through with Freezerburn and the Ladybug going full throttle. Enjoy.

I've tried so hard to be strong. So hard to be the best teammate, but I can't do it anymore. I give up.  
This is the story of how my team died.

XxXxX

Weiss

Something’s different. That may sound vague, but it’s the truth. After the dance, something changed - everything changed. She looks different to me. Obviously she’s the same brute of a girl who's been fortunate enough to be on my team, but there’s something more. It’s like someone added color to her; she seems brighter. Thinking about it, there’s probably just something wrong with me. Maybe it’s the weather? I’m probably never going to figure it out.

“Something wrong, Weiss?” Ruby asks from Blake’s bed, looking at me with concern in her eyes. She has her arms wrapped around Blake’s waist and her face squished up against the other girl’s side. To be honest it looks rather ridiculous, but I’m happy for her.

“No. Nothing’s wrong. Why do you ask?” 

“You just sighed. More than once. Didn’t she, Blake?” Ruby looked up at her girlfriend.

“Mhm,” Blake replies without looking up from the book she was reading.

“Sorry I just . . . miss Winter,” I lie. Badly. I should have thought of something better. Come on Weiss, you’re smarter than that.

“I don't. I'm a summer girl myself. I can wear just a tank top if I wanted and nobody would even blink,” Yang interrupts, poking her head down from her bunk.  
The sight of her gives me a strange feeling. It's not a crush, it's a fascination. Like the first time I realized the power of dust. I knew that there was something more than just the exterior, but I didn't know what.

“Speaking of, guys, I'm bored, can we go do something outside? It's so nice out,” Ruby says matter of factly. 

“That's a good idea. Maybe we could spar lightly,” Blake suggests in reply, closing her book.

“It seems that your mind’s made up on that. Regardless, I wouldn't mind a little bit of exercise,” I say.

Yang doesn't say a word, but drops down from her bed in nothing but her bra and boy shorts. In my current state of mind, the only way that I can react is by averting my eyes, so I do.

“You gals go on ahead. Let me just get dressed and I'll meet you in the glade,” Yang says, beginning to change her bra.

I walk out before I get the chance to see that. As far as my fascination goes, I think I'd rather not have images that I can't control emblazoned in my mind’s eye.

As we walk down the staircase, Ruby pulls me ahead, nearly tripping me.

“What?” I ask, annoyed. She could've killed me.

“You've been acting weird ever since the dance. What's up?” She stares at me with furrowed brows.

“Nuh - nothing’s up. Whatever do you mean?” 

“Weiss. Last year, didn't you want me to be the best leader I could be?”

Where's she going with this? “Of course. I still want that.”

“Well how am I supposed to do that when my own teammate won't talk to me?”

Curse my natural leadership ability. I knew I shouldn't have given her that speech.

“What’re you two being so secretive for? Is this about Blake?” Yang slides in between the two of us and drapes her arms over our shoulders.

I stifle my surprise surprisingly well and drop back giving Ruby a look with my eyes as if to say I'll tell you later.

She looks back and nods before putting her left arm around her sister's waist. Then she says something, causing the both of them to laugh. 

Ruby has a certain knack for deflection, that's for sure.

XxXx

Minutes later, we stand in our secret glade. It's spacious enough so that the four of us can be evenly spread apart, but close enough that we can still talk at normal volume. A warm, wet summer breeze dances between the deep green trees, bathing us in an earthly scent. Before we separated, the other three had filled their guns with paint rounds instead of actual bullets for practical reasons. They'll hurt the same amount, but this is probably going to come down to a close quarters combat match.

“Ok here are the ground rules,” Ruby starts, whipping out her scroll. “We're not going to go below fifty percent aura, so set your alarm to that,” She walks to Blake who stands across from her. “And to make it interesting, I think that we should have a team fight: Me and Blake against you two.”

“Fine. I'm game,” Yang says, readying Ember Celica.

And with that, I have no say. Also I wouldn't mind a little friendly competition. I think this will be interesting, seeing as we're fighting against our own partners. Since we have the knowledge of each other's tactics, this ought to be an even fight.

“Are you two ready?” Blake calls, her Gambol Shroud unsheathed and at the ready.

“Bring it!” Yang yells, entering her boxing stance with a confident smile on her lips.

As soon as Ruby signals for the ready, I stab Myrtenaster into the ground and use the ice dust in its cylinder to freeze the area around us in about a six foot radius. On cue, Yang leaps into the air and comes down with her fist, creating a mist covering for us. We’d practiced this maneuver many times before this, and especially three months ago when we had to have it perfect for the dance.

As the mist condenses, droplets of water form on my face. I stand still enough to hear even the faintest of movements. Soon, my patience comes through.

I see the edge of Ruby’s scythe arc close to my face, and I dodge sideways, carefully avoiding its cutting edge. Being raised a fencer forced me into being a good judge of distance, both physical and emotional.

As I get back to my feet, a tangle of ribbon entangles my legs, coming taut suddenly. The ground meets me swiftly, and the wind gets knocked out of me. My only thought is that I’m done for, when Yang jumps in, seemingly out of nowhere, and fires a salvo into the mist.

I hear a yelp, and the rope loosens, giving me room to work with. As quickly as I can, I undo them, rolling backwards to my feet.

My clothes are soiled, but at least it can't get any worse, I think, incorrectly as a gray cloud opens up above us, dropping its contents seemingly all at once. The four of us are immediately drenched and the mist cover flattened to the ground.

“Uh, Guys!” Ruby yells, cupping her hands. “I think we should head back inside!” She points to a black cloud in the distance with lightning firing out on all cylinders. It looks pretty bad, and none of us have Nora's semblance.

“Seconded,” Yang says, retracting her gauntlets.

After running through the downpour, we made it back to our dorm. Beacon loves to use its air conditioning system, and that makes it comfortable in the summer, but the worst thing if, say, everyone in your team is soaking wet.

“I’musingthebathroomfirstthanks!” Ruby babbles, disappearing in a puff of rose petals.

“Ruby! Wait my towel-” I sigh, wrapping my arms around my chest to protect myself from the biting chill and a possible case of pneumonia. 

“If you'll excuse me, I'm going to see if team JNPR will let me use their shower,” Blake tosses a towel from her closet over her shoulder.

Why didn't I think of that sooner?

I turn around back toward the closet, all but jumping at the sight of Yang peeling off her wet clothes.

“Don't you have any shame?” I ask, covering my eyes.

She scoffs. “No. Should I? We live together, Snowflake.”

Her logic deflates any argument that I might have tried to voice. “Well, just try to be a little more conscious.”

By now she has those scraps of fabric that she calls pajamas on. “Oh please,” she rolls her eyes, but her face softens. She walks towards me and, surprisingly is one word for it, wraps her arms around my sodden figure.

“What are you doing?” I yell, trying to get out of her grip. First of all, I'm going to get her fresh clothes wet. Second of-

“Calm down,” she commands, and a rush of heat floods my body, warming me from the inside out.

I look down at her arms, stopping my struggle grudgingly. It looks like there's fire dancing along my skin, but I know that it's just her aura. I relax, allowing her aura to mix with my own. Like fire mixing with ice, my clothes begin to steam until I'm completely, and thoroughly dried off.

“Whoa, did I miss something?” Ruby asks, looking back and forth between the two of us.

Instinctively, I push Yang away as hard as I can, knocking her into Blake’s bookshelf. With a wooden crack, the thing gives away, spilling all of her books on the floor.

That's the scene that Blake walked back into; the three of us stooped over, stacking her books in haphazard piles near our beds. Without a word, she bends over to help us.

My scroll buzzes, and I open it, revealing a message from Ruby.

What was it that you were going to tell me?

I respond immediately, I don't really know. What you walked into was explanation enough. I think that something’s changed between Yang and I. She doesn't infuriate me as much as she used to and not even close to as much as you used to.

Weiss, it sounds like you might have a crush of her.

I throw my scroll onto my bed, refusing to even entertain that possibility. I'm a Schnee. I do not crush. Well there was Neptune, but I refuse to consider that a crush.

It's not a crush . . . just a new perspective.


	15. Interruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang has a bit of introspection amidst something in the background that is becoming increasingly more annoying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter chapter, but it's a set up for the next one.

Yang  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The pitter patter of raindrops against stone resonates within my mind, but I ignore it. I'm used to it anyway. It’s been raining forever, which my hair really doesn't appreciate. I run my left hand through it, while I inspect my other, idly. 

Yup, still a hand. Ugh, I am bored out of my mind. I sigh loudly; that won't get me out of this room, but it definitely made me feel a little bit better.

“Chin up,” Ruby says, still hanging onto Blake’s side. 

For the past three months, I don't think I've ever seen them apart. As adorable as it is, I am making them sleep in their own beds indefinitely.

“I share the sentiment, Yang. We've been stuck in here for three days, and I for one am going stir crazy,” Weiss says, brushing her hair for what must be the thirtieth time today.

“Whoa, Ice Queen. Agreeing with me? We need to celebrate or something,” I smirk, ribbing her playfully.

“If it’s that unheard of, maybe it’s because most of what you say is stupid!” She replies, reminding me of why I do this to her; I love getting a reaction. Does that make me a bully? Maybe.

“Mmm. Stir fry,” Ruby whispers, all but drooling on herself. “You know, I am kind of hungry.”

“I didn’t even say stir . . .” Weiss begins, seemingly deciding that it’s better not to finish that sentence.

“Do you want to make a late night snack?” Blake asks, petting Ruby affectionately on the top of her head.

“Do I ever! What about you guys?” Ruby asks, looking at Weiss and I.

“I’ll pass, Rubes. I need to shower; my hair is killing me,” I reply.

“And I’d love to get out of this room,” Weiss says.

After the three leave, I revel in the privacy and strip down to just my underwear. Ruby doesn’t know this, but when I’m alone, I’m a lot more comfortable without anything on. It’s just . . . so constricting. I take my towel off of it’s rack and walk into the bathroom, slapping the light/vent switch on my way in.

“What’s cooking, good looking?” I say aloud, winking at my reflection in the mirror.

Ok, that was pretty lame, but, hey, a girl’s gotta entertain herself. Especially since we can’t really leave the dorms.

I peel off my underwear and turn the water to its highest setting. Without checking to see if it’s cool enough, I step into the stream. Heat’s never bothered me, it’s something that I can regulate with my semblance. But I've never been able to really feel cold. Anyway, it's too bad I can’t do a thing about this humidity.

The hot water runs down my body in rivulets, and I tousle my hair to make sure that I get every strand. I close my eyes, and that’s when the shower thoughts start.

Weiss sure has been acting weird lately. Then again, the crazy weather would make anyone act weird, even the most rational and calm and chilliest of girls, like Weiss.

I'm surprised that I don't hate her as much as I used to. Granted, most of that hate was my way of defending Ruby. When it gets down to the basics, she's not all that bad. In fact, she even played world of Remnant with us, just because I asked. Even more surprising is that she put effort in trying to learn it, although that might just be her won't lose attitude. That's something that the two of us have in common.

For a while after that, I stop thinking, just standing in the lukewarm water. It feels great, so good that I start singing.

It starts off as humming. I'm not the best singer, but I get by. I work my way into the melody and pick up the first verse of a song that I used to sing to Ruby when we had just lost her mom.

“Dream of anything;  
I'll make it all come true.  
Everything you need  
Is all I have for you.”

I'm going to be honest; I forgot the part going into the chorus, so I just skip to it.

“Don't you worry about the dark,  
I will light up the night with the love in my heart.  
I will burn like the sun,  
I will keep you safe and warm.  
Like the smell of a rose on a summer's day,  
I will be there to take all your fears away.  
With a touch of my hand,  
I will turn your life to go-”

A sudden crash from outside stops me short of the final syllable, and I shut off the shower. Without grabbing my towel, I run out the door . . . straight into Weiss.

“Aggh! What - what are you doing?” She yells breathlessly. The look on her face would be priceless, if I wasn’t tangled up with her naked.

“What are you doing? Weren’t you supposed to be with Ruby and Blake?” I counter, scrambling to my feet, but not attempting to hide anything. Based on the way that she’s staring at me, right into my eyes, I assume that I don’t need to anyway.

“I was, but I . . . I needed to grab, uh, this!” She looks around, quickly picking up a book. Blake’s book. The Ninjas of Love book that Weiss would have absolutely no interest in.

“Why? You don't read that stuff,” I turn around and walk to my closet. There's no point in arguing this; it's not like everyone on this team hasn't seen me naked before. I throw a towel around my waist, leaving my girls fully exposed.

“I'm not allowed to appreciate literature?” Weiss asks, her voice full of snark.

“You are, but most of the time, you read technical manuals and boring history books.”

“Well . . . I'm done talking about this!” She storms out of the room, slamming the door on me.

Oh no, she doesn't get the last word after walking in on me. I walk to the door and step out into the hallway, yelling. “Fine! You have to come back sometime!”

As I turn back to walk into my room, a frozen Jaune and Pyrrha greet me. “Hello Yang . . .” Pyrrha says, scratching the back of her head. “You're . . . not wearing a shirt.”

“Oh, uh, sorry. Have a goodnight,” I say, running back into the dorm and shutting the door.

Ok that one I was asking for.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Later that night

I stare at Weiss spitefully, and she does everything in her power to avoid my gaze. She even started reading the Ninjas of Love book from earlier, much to Blake’s intrigue. After her rude interruption, I was able to get some peace and quiet. As loud as I can get, silence is something that I can get behind.

“Weiss?” I say, my voice cutting through the stale. “Can I speak to you for a minute?”

Weiss’ eye flits to Ruby almost imperceptibly, but not enough that I don't catch it. Is there some secret that I'm not a part of?

“Sure,” she finally replies, getting up.

I walk to the door and we both stand at it and hesitate, waiting for the other to make the first move. After that small moment, we both reach for the handle and our hands touch. Weiss withdraws and mumbles an apology as I swing it open.

“What is it?” She asks once we’re in the relative privacy of the hallway.

“What were you actually doing earlier?” 

“I told you already, I-”

I cut her off with a motion of my hand. “Nope. The truth.”

“Then let me finish speaking!” She snaps, looking up defiantly.

We have a brief stare down, that she eventually looks away from.

“Fine,” I reply, miming a zipper with a lock on my lips.

“I came back because I was feeling a little bit woozy,” she starts, lowering her voice. “My period just started. And I meant to lie down, when I heard you singing. I won't lie, your voice gave me pause. And then I accidentally knocked over a shelf of books. That's when you came out and, well, you know exactly what happened.”

“My voice?”

“I misspoke, not so much your voice, but the lyrics, and the feeling beneath that. It was, and I can't believe I'm using this to describe you, beautiful.”

“What? You're telling me that I'm not beautiful? Uh oh, somebody better tell all those poor boys, and Professor Port.”

“That's not what I meant, You are beau - ugh,” She stomps, balling her fists. “You are infuriating!”

She was about to call me beautiful. Which I am; that makes sense, but why was she so riled up?

Whatever, it probably doesn't matter.


	16. Two Firsts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Blake share a first, and Weiss has a first too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey readers, I just wanted to let you know that I'm open for commission and if you're interested check out unapologeticallyauthor.tumblr.com for more details

Ruby

“My Grimm Dragon’s special ability lets me fly right over your walls and drop three platoons of Beowolves right in the middle of your encampment,” Yang says with a triumphant smile, her hands moving furiously all over the game board. “And thanks to my Awoken Evil, all of your units that die this turn enter my control as the Revenant Grimm type in addition to their normal types. Any responses?”

Weiss looks over her hand down on the board, her brows furrowed in that look of deep concentration that she gets.

I hope she survives this turn, if she does, I can use my Fall Maiden card to cleanse all of her units and finish Yang off.

It's quiet, tense. This is what the whole game’s been building up to. I look at Blake, who also has a competitive twinkle in her eye. If I don't get Yang, she will, and with the deck that we built together, she's probably going to get me too. I hope she upholds our treaty.

Weiss lifts her finger and takes a short breath. “Um, I still have no idea what's going on,” she says.

“Alright, taking that as a no,” Yang sweeps her arm across the board and pulls all of Weiss’ figures to her side of the board. “You lose, snowflake.”

“No!” I fall to the ground dramatically. I can still win, but that's only if I play this right.

“Wait! No that's not fair!” Weiss gets up and stomps, clenching her fists by her waist. “Where did you even get those cards?”

“Yesterday at the card shop in Vale,” she replies, nonchalantly shuffling her deck.

“In this weather?” Weiss motions outside, referring to the rain that has been falling, literally nonstop, for the past week or so.

“What? The Monsters and Myths set just came out,” Yang said passionately. “I've been talking about it every day. Ring a bell?”

It’s true, she wouldn’t stop going on about it. Every time a new card spoiler came out she bounced off of the walls. And trust me, I know what Yang bouncing off the walls looks like. In short? Not pretty. I swear that if I wasn’t there, holding Blake, she would’ve killed my sister. Ok, well she wouldn’t have killed her partner, but it would’ve been close.

“Ugh, why did I even agree to play this stupid game?” Weiss flounces into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

“Weiss -” I start, getting to my feet and jogging over.

“Ruby, leave it,” Blake puts a soft hand on my shoulder. “Just let her cool off.”

“Yeah! Leave the sore loser alone!” Yang yells, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice.

“Yang!” Blake scolds, wagging her finger at my sister.

Weiss has been so testy lately, although I guess with weather like this, we all are; she’s just been the most vocal about it.

Then again, I have Blake. My heart skips a beat, just thinking about that. How is it that I got so lucky? I wrap my arms around her and bury my face in her chest, not her boobs! I breathe her scent deep and look up at her with wide, pleading, puppy-dog eyes. Oddly enough, I only do that when I want something, but all I want is her right now. And no. Not like that.

She smiles at me tenderly and ruffles my hair, kissing me on my crown. “I l - like you a lot, Ruby,” she stutters, catching herself on the ‘L’ word.

We promised not to use the word love unless we meant it, and by that, I mean I promised not to use it. It’s just too much to commit to right now, even though I’m pretty sure I could say it a thousand times and mean it on every single one.

“Ew, could you two get a room?” Yang teases us, grimacing in mock disgust. “Or you know what? I’ll leave, and you can have this one. And Blake?” She points at her partner, staring down the length of her finger.

“Yes, Yang?”

“You better keep your hands above her clothes,” she looks absolutely serious, even though I know that she’s at least half joking.

“Don’t be crass,” Blake replies, standing her ground.

“Wait, where are you going?” I ask, knowing the answer to the question before she answers.

“The card shop,” we both say at the same time. I go into my wallet and take out some lien. “Could you get me a few packs of Monsters and Myths?”

“Sure,” she takes the lien and stashes it in her bra. “I’ll be back. Try not to enjoy yourselves too much. I mean, Weiss is in the room and you wouldn’t want to give her a heart attack, would you?”

“Bye, sis,” I say emphatically, shutting the door on her.

Yang doesn’t have to like Weiss, but I’m pretty sure that Weiss likes her, even if she doesn’t really know it herself. She has that same longing look in her eye that I know I had when I was crushing hard.

“Wanna lie down?” I ask, pulling her towards her bed before she can protest. Luckily for me, I doubt that she would’ve anyway.

“Ruby!” She laughs, exhaling happily as I pull her down on top of me, peppering her neck and cheeks with kisses, all the while staying away from her lips. I recently found out that she likes that - a lot. That and we haven’t actually had a first kiss yet.

Blake props herself up on her elbows and smiles at me mischievously, swinging her legs over my waist. She laces her fingers through my own, placing them on her hips.

“Uh . . . Blake, what are you doing?” I ask, my heartbeat beginning to swell. We’ve been taking it very very slowly, and she’s been happy with it. She’s never the one to engage, let alone ask me to touch her. 

“What’s wrong?” She narrows her eyes sensually, nibbling on her lower lip. “Don’t you want this?” She grips my wrists firmly, as if afraid that I’d withdraw. But she knows that I won’t.

My face reddens and burns, but I meet her gaze defiantly, letting her guide my hands down to a most wonderful prize. Finally, after what feels like forever, I feel her caboose in my palm. It’s as firm as a ripening peach, but fills my hands beautifully. Then again, I have small hands.

I squeeze her and run my hands down, towards her legs and her smile widens.

She sits down on my hands, trapping them beneath her. “Gotcha,” she winks, placing her hand at my waist.

“Wait, what’re you doing?” I ask again, trying to pull my hands away.

She slides her hands up the sides of my body, settling on the area above my waist. “Oh, nothing. Just this.”

“No!” I protest, realizing a little too late what happened. She duped me, I can’t believe it.

Her fingers press at my sides lightly with enough pressure to tickle me. I throw my hips up, trying to buck her off, but I can’t. Those caboose muscles are just too strong. So strong.

“Blake! Please!” Between fits of laughter, I manage to get a breath in, and make a split second decision.“I - I love you!” I cry, causing her to stop dead.

At that exact moment, as if it were planned by some god out of the Monsters and Myths set, Weiss walks out of the bathroom, wearing a mortified look on her face. Blake looks at her, then back at me with a confliction in her eyes.

“I - I need to go,” Blake says, the tone of her voice indicating confusion. She hops off of me and runs into the hallway, and I follow, right on her tail.

Wait, does she have a tail? That doesn’t matter right now.

I put my hand on her elbow and she spins around, looking down. Light glints off of her cheek and I realize that there are tears rolling down her cheeks. She’s crying . . . because of me?

“Blake, wait. What’s wrong?”

She can’t look me in the eyes, averting her gaze whenever I try to match it. Doesn’t she know that I’m her friend, her girlfriend, and above all, her leader. She can tell me anything.

“I need to . . . go,” she says again, clutching her arm with another arm.

“I understand,” I reply, smiling weakly. In truth I don’t. She’s a riddle that I haven’t solved yet, and I’m not sure that I ever want to. That’s the beauty of love. It’s why I love romantic stories so much; I could spend an eternity loving her, learn something new every day, and never ever unravel the mystery of Blake. And you know what? I would be ok with that. “Run.”

“I - “ she hesitates. “I’m not running, I-”

“Wait, let me finish,” I raise my hands in a show of peace. “Run, and I promise that when you get back, I’ll be here.”

That’s when she does something that catches me completely off guard.

She smiles sideways through her tears, making a choked noise of amusement. Then, tenderly, she cups my face in her hands and briefly brushes our lips together. Seeming unsatisfied with it, she shakes her head slightly, pulling me in for a sweeter, more intimate kiss. And honestly? I can’t tell who wants it more as we desperately press against each other, both trying to get closer than we are already.

When we finally break apart, breathing hard, I’m crying too, but mine are tears of joy. That was my first kiss, and I couldn’t have asked for a better one. Man, I am absolutely head over heels.

Blake wipes the back of her hand across her eyes, and wipes the tears from the corners of mine. “I’m just going to go to the library to cool off,” she exhales, fanning herself with her hand.

“When we get back . . . could we pick up where we left off?” I ask, knowing that I’m playing a very dangerous game. I could get tickled again.

She chuckles, kissing me one more time in parting. “Of course, my little rose.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I get back to the room, I have a stupid, lopsided grin on my face, I just know it. And Weiss’ facial expression tells me that she knows too.

“Hey, Ruby, could you -” she stops talking, cocking her head to the side. “You’re smiling ear to ear,” she cracks a quizzical smile. “What happened? Blake looked rather upset.”

“No, no she was fine. But, um, well,” I try to put on a more serious face, but can’t. I just can’t stop smiling for the life of me. “Blake and I just had our first kiss,” I blaze through that sentence, unable to contain my excitement.

Weiss jumps to her feet. She rushes towards me, taking my hands in her own. “Aw! No way!” And all of a sudden, both of us are jumping up and down. “What happened? I want all the details.”

“Well, she was upset because I said that I loved her because we promised not to say it until we were absolutely certain that it was true, but I couldn’t stop myself; she was tickling me. Then I ran outside, and asked her what was wrong, and we exchanged some words, and then we kissed - kind of a lot - and now it’s now.”

Weiss clasps her hands together and holds them up to her face, squealing in delight. “That is the absolute cutest thing that I’ve ever heard. I’m so happy for you!”

I blush, thinking about Blake. How soft her lips were, how it felt like there was a perfect push and pull, kind of like a sparring match between equal partners, and how my sister was nowhere in sight. Sister. That reminds me: “Weiss, are you going to be ok with Yang?”

All at once, the smile drops from her face. “Yes?” She asks, snapping her fingers. “That’s right, I have something to ask you.”

“What’s that?”

“Could you please teach me to play World of Remnant? I’m not letting that Brute play me anymore. If anyone’s going to be played, it’s her and the tune will be ‘Her Demise,’ sung by me,” she has a fire in her eyes, that same competitive determination that makes us all so similar, despite coming from pretty different backgrounds.

Still, I don’t really know what to say. This is the second time in less than ten minutes that I’ve been completely blindsided by one of my teammates. I don’t know if I want to teach Weiss; she might get better than all of us in a short amount of time, but this could also be a way for her to get closer to my sister. My sister. That reminds me again: “Uh, sure. On one condition.”

She narrows her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest, thrusting her chin out stubbornly. “And what’s that?”

“You have to admit that you have a crush on Yang.”

“I do not!” She objects, stomping her foot on the ground, though the tinge of red in her face betrays her. Her shoulders droop, and she walks to her bed, plopping down on it. “I don’t crush, but I do wish she wouldn’t make me so mad. I’ve been trying so hard to tolerate her, but it’s a trying task. Besides, she hates me.”

“Was . . . that a confession?” I ask, sitting down next to her. “Because it sure sounded like one.”

“Would that get you to teach me to play the game?” She asks, a frown on her face.

I weigh it over in my head, I don’t lose anything from doing it, and if anything, the four of us could be one big happy family if they start dating and keep dating, and we keep dating. “Yeah, I guess it would.”

“Then fine, it was an admission.”

“Of what?” I smile slyly, flexing my bicep in case she punches me.

“Ruby Rose! Don’t make me say it!”

“Fine,” I sigh, snickering to myself. “We can start right away, but know, young grasshopper, once you walk down this path, there’s going to be no going back. You will become consumed by your strategy. You will eat, sleep, breath World of Remnant. You will be a champion!” I yell, throwing my fist into the air.

And if I play this right, she’ll be my sister in law too.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss and Ruby have a little bit of trouble getting a lie past Yang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys I'm back. This is a super short chapter that I'm using to get back into the swing of things. If you want more content, check out my tumblr @unapologeticallyauthor.tumblr.com. Give me some of those follows and spread my work around! So I have a lot of incentive to write more!

**Weiss**

* * *

Twelve hours into my World of Remnant crash course and . . . I’m just about ready to crash myself. Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m getting closer and closer to victory every time I draw a new first hand, or maybe it’s the fact that Ruby is being relentless. Either way, I have to admit that I’m enjoying myself.

 

“No, Weiss, you can’t play your Atlesian Tactics card without a target,” Ruby says, taking another long drink from the coffee that I made her with with an unreasonable amount of cream and sugar

 

“Why not?” 

 

Maybe I’m not getting as good at this as I think I am.

 

“Because, you need two targets. One in your kingdom and one in mine. You can’t just make the damage come out of nowhere! How would that even make sense?” Ruby asks.

 

I’m definitely not as good at this as I thought I was. What was I thinking? I look through my meager hand of three cards and notice the Atlesian Paladin card all the way on the right. It has airdrop, which would let me play it out on her turn and also give me the target for my Atlesian Tactics card. Ugh, it might be too late to be playing this.

 

“I’m sorry, can I take that back? I know what I was trying to do there,” I say, looking Ruby in her silver eyes and finding no leniency.

 

“Nope,” she says simply.

 

I squint my eyes at her. “What do you mean no?”

 

“I mean if you really want to beat my older sister, I can’t just let you take back your moves whenever you mess up,” she stands up and leans forward, her palms flat on the table. “You must learn that there are consequences to your actions, Young grasshopper.”

 

“Okay, Ruby,” I roll my eyes at her.

 

“Okay, who?” She asks expectantly with an annoying grin on her face.

 

“Are you really going to make me say it?” I ask, folding my arms across my chest.

 

“Do you want to get better or not?”

 

“Of course!” I reply, feeling my face redden with anger. “I just don’t see how -”

 

“Doyouwanttogetbetterornot?” Ruby actually yells this time.

 

Ugh. fine. I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Okay . . . sensei.” 

 

Thankfully nobody heard that. While I am fond of role playing, having played a role my whole life, this might be taking it a step far. Then again, for once in her life, Ruby is the master and I am the student. But she’s never going to hear me say that.

 

We finish off that game without any further issue. I didn’t misplay any cards afterwards and barely snuck away with a win, the Atlesian Paladin that I saved actually being the reason that I had enough to win in the end. It seems that in this game, even the most dire situation can be turned around if you keep a level head.

 

Ruby bows to me and makes me bow back, albeit begrudgingly. As we walk back to the dorms together, she looks down at her scroll and facepalms. “Weiss, it’s three A.M.”

 

“I know it is, keep it down,” I whisper, tapping my own scroll to the door to unlock it. “We wouldn’t want your brute of a sister to know what we’ve been up to.”

 

I open the door and all but walk into her. Speak of the Deathstalker.

 

“And where have you two been?” Yang asks, thumping her foot to the ground.

 

“We were just out having a cup of coffee,” Ruby says, thinking fast to cover our tracks.

 

“At three A.M.?” Yang asks, clearly not buying it. “Ruby, you know you’re not a good liar.”

 

Ruby’s sweating bullets almost as big as the shells from Crescent Rose and I decide that maybe now is a good time to step in. “Actually, she’s telling the truth.”

 

“Oh?” Yang turns to face me and it’s my turn to sweat bullets. 

My face reddens for some reason. And rather than leave that up to interpretation, I turn up the heat. 

 

“Yes! And instead of harassing my partner, maybe you should go to sleep!” I try to walk past Yang and, with the insolence that I’ve come to expect from her, she grabs my arm and twists me around. And, as if matters couldn’t get any more complicated, my entire world of remnant deck falls out of my pocket, spiraling to the ground like my plan to keep this training a secret.

 

“Well, well, well, coffee huh?” Yang drops to her knees and scoops up the cards, leafing through them. “I should’ve guessed that you wouldn’t let the cards fall where they may.”

 

“What’s going on,” Blake asks sitting up in her bed, her eyes heavy with sleep. “Are you guys playing that game again?”

 

“No, we were-” I start, snatching my deck out of Yang’s clutches. “We were about to go to bed.”

 

“Not so fast, Snowflake, you and me right now,” Yang says, a spark of competition alight in her eyes.

 

“I don’t think so, it’s late and . . . I’ve got an early start tomorrow, you see-”

 

“I do see,” Yang folds her arms and smirks. “You’re scared. Too scared to lose again, Schnee?” She asks, dancing around like a chicken.

 

“Go for it, you can do it Weiss!” Ruby says quietly. “This is what we’ve been training for!”

 

“Oh for Remnant’s sake!” I throw my arms into the air and sit down on the floor, placing my deck to the right. “Let’s get this over with. Best of three”

 

“You guys have fun, I for one am going back to sleep. Right now,” Blake slurs, laying down and pulling her blankets over her face.

 

* * *

 

We play the first match and I get beaten by my own bad luck. My draws for the match were awful and Yang’s board position was far too overwhelming for me to overcome. To say it plainly, it was a slaughter. In the second match, the opposite happened and Yang drew nothing but tactic cards that would let her damage me directly, if only she had the targets to do so. Then, we started game three.

 

The board state looked exactly the same as it had last night. Yang played her Grimm Dragon as soon as she was allowed to and placed a battalion of Beowolves in my kingdom. Unlike last night, I was ready for it and followed up with an Atlesian Anti Air Missile card. Fortunately, the Grimm Dragon’s most powerful ability was for it to spawn the Beowolves, not to defend against a barrage of anti air missiles.   
  


“Nice try, Weiss, but you still need to deal with my Beowolves,” Yang says as I draw the card for my turn.

 

All I have in my hand now is the Atlesian Tactics, the Atlesian Paladin and a Burn Glyph - I’m still not entirely sure how this company managed to secure the rights to our families semblance, or its likeness.

 

I start by playing my Atlesian Paladin, destroying two of the Beowolves and then play my Atlesian Tactics, targeting the final Beowolf. Its damage combined with the damage from my Burn Glyph card should be enough to put this one - and us - to bed.

 

“Are you watching, Yang?” I ask, an unbidden smile betraying me. “Because I’ve got a move for you.”

 

“Lay it on me, Ice Queen,” Yang says, giving me the come hither motion with her right hand.

 

Her reaction is honestly disheartening and I drop my shoulders before quickly regaining my posture. “You could at least act like you’re worried that you’re about to lose.” 

 

“I will be worried when I’m about to lose.”

 

That does it for me. I turn over the burn glyph card and slam it onto the floor, ready to get up and go to bed when Yang says one thing to me: “I respond with my Magic Mirror card, all damage this turn is reflected back to you.”

 

“What?”

 

“I win,” Yang says simply, pulling her cards together and walking into the bathroom, leaving Ruby and I by ourselves, surrounded by my cards and ruin.

 

“Didn’t see that coming,” Ruby quips, changing into her pajamas in a whirlwind of rose petals. “Those were some pretty good matches, though.”

 

“That’s not fair, what did I do wrong?” I finally say, looking at all my cards for some sign, but finding none. I didn’t do a single thing wrong in that match and still lost. “I don’t understand.”

 

“Isn’t that fun?” Yang asks, changed into her tank top and boyshorts. “You literally didn’t do a single thing wrong, you just need some better cards. Then you can get into the tournament scene like me.”

 

I avoid eye contact with her, for a few reasons, one of which being that Ruby might be on to something. Why else would I have gone to this length to learn this ridiculous game? Last year I wouldn’t have even bothered to remember its name. Now, though? I just want to pound Yang into the dirt.

 

“I’ll take you out tomorrow to get you some new cards if you want,” she says nonchalantly, cutting into my thoughts.

 

“I can buy my own cards,” I reply, with more acidity than I intend.

 

Yang puts her hands up defensively. “Ok. Suit yourself, Weiss.”

 

“No. I’m sorry, Yang. I appreciate the offer. It’s just late and-” I sigh. She’s normally so infuriating and this was genuinely a nice offer. “I would love to.”

 

“Great, then it’s a date!” She says with an obviously joking wink and a smile that makes my heart skip a beat.

Oh dear, what am I getting myself into? 


End file.
